-Please tell us about the background and reasons for the introduction of the system.

Mr. Shimozaki:
Our group's strength lies in our ability to provide a diverse range of comprehensive logistics services based on our three core businesses of logistics, plants, and ports, with "moving things" as our keyword. Because of the variety of services we provide, prior to the introduction of HUE Classic, we had multiple business systems with entry functions into our accounting system, one from another company and one developed in-house. The configuration was very complex, and the databases themselves were distributed and not synchronized properly. As a result, there was a lot of auxiliary work required to reconcile financial and managerial accounting, which resulted in double entry, data modification, and various other time-consuming tasks. In terms of operation and maintenance, master management and modification work was also very complicated, and system personnel were always in short supply.
What triggered us to introduce a new accounting system was the problem of the development language of our system. Given that an era in which the Windows OS 64-bit was just about to be adopted as the basic OS was also predicted, it was necessary to restructure the system itself in anticipation of the need for large-scale modifications in order to keep up with future changes.

Mr. Ohno:
Before the introduction of the system, when we wanted to try something new, we had to think about modifying our own development and coordinating with other companies' systems, and although we were able to construct what we wanted to do in our minds, the process to achieve it was a hindrance. I was frustrated by the fact that I could not achieve what I wanted to do in spite of my desire to improve the company, and I felt frustrated for a long time.
It was at this time that we learned about HUE Classic when we were in the process of selecting a product for our new accounting system. Our first impression of HUE Classic was that it was multifunctional, and the flexibility of being able to combine these functions at will gave us a sense of hope that we would be able to achieve what we wanted to do with this product.
Now that we have introduced HUE Classic, for example, as FinTech and financial institution services around fund settlement continue to develop, there are many times when new ideas come to us as a finance department or as a business. I am now able to have a thought process based on the assumption that it can be realized by using HUE Classic. I feel that this is a very attractive point.

-How have things changed since the introduction of the system?

Mr. Shimozaki:
The entry part of the system maintains the same usability as the previous system, and it has been very effective in improving the operational efficiency of the accounting and finance departments, which was a secondary part of the system. We are now able to link data from Entry to Financial Accounting and Management Accounting, and differences no longer occur. Both the business and accounting/finance departments have been able to reduce their workload in terms of eliminating the need for double data entry, checking for consistency, and making corrections. In the past, the data for voucher generation and payroll calculation was not linked to other systems, so while calculations were done in each system, the results were manually entered into the accounting system by dropping them into Excel and then importing them. The introduction of HUE Classic has made it possible to link most of this data.
Before the introduction of HUE Classic, we had multiple databases and started with scattered data, so we had to manually collect the data and total the balances. After the introduction of the system, that work was completely eliminated, and we were also able to greatly reduce the work involved in tabulating financial closing figures and verifying the accuracy of the figures. Before, the accounting period was the busy season, and we could hardly do any other work, but now it doesn't even feel like a busy season. Now, even during the accounting period, there is not so much overtime. It is significant that we can now devote more time to tasks other than closing accounts, which allows us to spend more time on administrative and support tasks for business divisions and affiliated companies, which we should be working on as an accountant.

-How has it affected the system that supports your operations?

Mr. Shimozaki:
With the introduction of the system, we set up a three-person support desk to respond to inquiries from business divisions and affiliated companies. Now that the number of inquiries has settled down, the support desk is responsible for setting up and reviewing modification proposals made by the accounting and finance departments, as well as communicating with WAP. In terms of system modifications, it used to be very difficult just to consider the definition of requirements, but thanks to WAP's support, it has become really simple. WAP has been very helpful in providing us with free upgrades. With the previous system, we sometimes had to outsource the staff to make modifications before we could keep up, but now, at least with HUE Classic, we and the support desk staff are able to handle it on a day-to-day basis.

Mr. Ohno: The support service "@SUPPORT" from
WAP is also very important. Before, when we wanted to do something, we had to look up the specifications of the system from scratch by ourselves. Even when I can't find something, I can use the bulletin board to make a request, so I make good use of it.

-Please tell us about the specific effects of the introduction.

Mr. Shimozaki:
I also feel that it is beneficial to be able to use a common system for the entire group. With authorization, we can refer to the current information and data of each company in the group, enabling us to provide support to each company on a daily basis. Applying this environment, we have established a system that consolidates and handles the financial closing tasks of each company, which were previously outsourced, in a single location, resulting in a significant cost reduction. The fact that fixed asset management, including leased assets, is handled by HUE Classic Assets Management (fixed asset management system) is also very efficient. We now have much less work to do in closing accounts related to fixed assets.
In addition, the integration of the expense reimbursement system (HUE Classic Financial Management) with Ekisupato was also a breakthrough. We used to have to look up routes and fees each time we were reimbursed for transportation expenses, but we no longer have to do so. In the past, we had applicants calculate the amount in Excel and submit it for reimbursement, but the rules were complicated, and half of them had to be returned due to incompleteness. Now, the system automatically calculates the amount, so there are almost no deficiencies, and it is much easier for the person making the application. There are many such minor improvements.

Mr. Ohno:
Before the introduction of the system, our accounting and finance department used to work late-night overtime and on holidays during the closing period of the monthly and final accounts, but we have been able to greatly reduce the amount of overtime work. The receivables and payables management system (HUE Classic Business Management, hereafter CBM) allows us to track who entered the information and when, making it easier to analyze where and how to improve the accuracy of entries. The CBM system is monitored on a monthly basis to continuously measure the effects of improvements.
In the area of CBM, the previous management of delinquent receivables was difficult to analyze from a financial perspective, so it was difficult to get involved, and collection itself was viewed as the responsibility of the business unit. Since the introduction of HUE Classic, the company has been able to conduct more in-depth management, and meetings are now held jointly with the business units to review whether there are any long-term delinquencies or abnormalities in the receivables and payables. We are now in a position to detect risks before they occur in order to prevent serious events.

-What are some of your favorite features that you have found useful?

Mr. Ohno:
CBM's automatic deposit erasure, which before HUE Classic was a specialized task that relied on the experience of the person in charge, is a surprisingly automated process. Because we want to take full advantage of this functionality, we are working hard to improve the accuracy of credit management and data entry.
HUE Classic's logic is flexible and its conditions are easy to set, so even if you are not a system expert, you can use it if you know how to set up a few functions in Excel.

Mr. Shimozaki:
There are many favorite functions, but the first one is the basic account statement inquiry as an accounting system. The first is the basic account statement inquiry, which is the most basic function of any accounting system. This is highly efficient because it allows us to use the figures that are generated by quickly tabulating intercompany transactions at the time of closing of accounts, and it leads to a reduction in work time not only for non-consolidated accounts but also for consolidated accounts. Next is the CAM (HUE Classic Assets Management) depreciation forecasting function. In the past, we had to manually create and submit Excel tables to use as reference information for investment planning in the business divisions, but now we are able to populate them with the system, which is a big help.
The system is now able to automatically allocate entertainment expenses based on the maximum limit of ¥5,000, We are relieved that HUE Classic is able to respond to such changes in the law.

Mr. Ohno:
We have multiple accounts for fund settlement, and HUE Classic's in-house account setting policy function allows us to set conditions in advance to automatically allocate funds to the account with the lowest commission rate according to the payee account information before sending out FB data. In the past, this was all done manually by the person in charge. If something should go wrong at the bank, the source account can be changed at the touch of a button, so we have a system in place that allows us to respond without placing too much of a burden on the person in charge of payment operations.

-What are your future plans?

Mr. Ohno:
We are currently working on RPA (Robotic Process Automation) to promote automation of business processes, and are designing a combination of batch processing and RPA, using ACAI, ACAP, external invocation API, etc. In HUE Classic, HUE Classic provides user interfaces and external interfaces as standard and is easy to use with RPA, so we would like to reduce the amount of manual work and increase the amount of thinking and information dissemination using our brains.

-Please give us a message to existing users and companies that are interested in our services.

Mr. Ohno:
First of all, we encourage you to try playing around with HUE Classic yourself. It is like having fun and finding interesting and useful functions. I don't think accounting systems, especially credit and debt management systems, will change that much in basic areas such as payment request entry, payment schedule management, and payment processing. The key point is that the system is equipped from the beginning with little, itchy functions such as the in-house account setting policy that I mentioned earlier.

Mr. Shimozaki:
I think HUE Classic is like Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. I think that is one of the charms of HUE Classic. We have actually had it realized as a function, and it is really flexible, and I feel that we will continue to grow the system together and create better and better things.
The most time-consuming part of the initial implementation of HUE Classic was the setting of accounts. This is because the way it is set up will determine how the functionality is used later on. It is vital to set up the system so that we can separate accounts to get the information we ultimately want as a company. Since the replacement of the system is an opportunity to review and change the existing one, we would like to encourage you to devote your efforts to setting up the accounts.