PZ Cussons Digital Transformation Initiatives

About the Customer

PZ Cussons is a British manufacturer of personal healthcare products and consumer goods. It operates worldwide, especially in Africa and Commonwealth nations.

Scope and Challenges

The Group began its digital transformation with the implementation of SAP as its new Global ERP system in 2015 and the rollout of SAP to all of the Group’s operating units which was substantially complete as of May 2017.

The continued rollout of SAP gives rise to a heightened risk over financial reporting as a result of the increased complexity of the system, changes in business and accounting process and the need to ensure stringent access and segregation of duties controls. The risk identified was in respect of the following areas:

• the risk that data is not accurately migrated between the legacy system and SAP, resulting in incorrect opening financial information; and

• the risk that access rights and segregation of duties are not appropriately controlled such that changes to data could be made inaccurately or in error.

These areas of risk could result in the inaccurate reporting of financial information.

Outcome and Implications

During 2017, PZ Cussons operating units in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya transitioned to SAP, while the Group’s operating units in Indonesia, Thailand, and MESA transitioned in the prior year.