Enter the user’s e-mail address. It is essential that the address matches the one in SIMS. Note that there will be a warning message under Email details for external e-mail addresses. This message can be ignored, as the external user will need no REZ-365 e-mail/office license.

Support

In addition to the extensive documentation provided for SIMS, there are also committed support teams available to help you with specific issues. Please always consult the User Guide and this document before turning to the support team.

Password- / Intranet-Related Support

For all matters relating to the Radisson side of the system, in particular the maintenance of user data and passwords in the Intranet, please contact your local Intranet administrator or the Radisson IT Helpdesk.

Whenever logging in to SIMS does not work, first check whether you can log in to the Intranet under https://rezportal.rezidor.com/. If you cannot, this also indicates that there is a problem in RezPortal or that your password has expired. Please try to change your password in RezPortal before contacting support.

The global contact to IT Helpdesk is:        it-helpdesk@radissonhotels.com

SIMS-Related / User Setup Support

For matters relating the SIMS side, such as user setup or deletion in SIMS, or the unplanned unavailability of a SIMS server, please contact the SIMS support team. For user management issues, please include the following information in your support request:

• SITA code
• Name and e-mail address of the user
• Role(s)
• Date of activation / deletion

In case you are confronted with an error message in SIMS, it is essential to provide it to the support team – ideally send a screenshot with your request. If you are experiencing a problem with a certain document within SIMS, please include the following information in your support request:

• Document ID
• Creditor name
• Invoice amount

The latter two are helpful to find the correct document in case of transposed digits in the ID, etc.

The SIMS support addresses for all countries/regions are listed below. Please always use the support address for your location, because the setup of functionalities and interface to the accounting system vary greatly between countries.

Please make sure that no invoices that need to be captured are sent to the support address – they will not be processed.

Invoices in Electronic Formats

SIMS is a digital workflow for supplier invoices with an archive that complies with all country-specific requirements for the archiving of invoices. Invoices can either be sent on paper (see chapter 4), or in electronic format. The electronic formats accepted by SIMS are e-invoices and PDF invoices. Invoices sent in PDF format by e-mail require the same processing steps as paper invoices, including allocation to the correct creditor, semi-automated capturing of invoice lines etc., because the data is transmitted in an unstructured format, i.e., not machine-readable. Therefore, they are also charged at the same rate as paper invoices.

Invoices sent via e-invoicing do not require manual capturing, because all necessary information is already included in the data file transmitted in XML format by the supplier directly to SIMS. E-invoices are sent as a standardised set of structured data and an invoice image in PDF format. The PDF is meant only for visualising, while information like the supplier ID, Line items, prices and VAT can be imported from the XML file without further intermediate steps. This reduces worktime and sources of error. Nevertheless, e-invoices also run through the normal SIMS sanity checks to verify that the data sent by the supplier is consistent, VAT is calculated correctly etc.

E-Invoices

Process Description

E-invoicing is managed centrally by BancTec.

Radisson contracted suppliers that participate in the e-invoicing programme can be found in the list of suppliers. There is a list of globally contracted suppliers, and one per country for local suppliers. The Procurement department provides these lists and is in charge of negotiating the terms with suppliers. If you identify a suitable supplier with more than 200 invoices per year that is not on one of the lists, please contact your procurement team.

Please never request changes in the billing procedures directly from the supplier, such as a change of the invoicing frequency, collective billing, etc. Instead, always do this via SIMS support, since it might interrupt the invoice receiving and processing otherwise.

Duplicates and Missing Invoices

For suppliers that participate in the e-invoicing programme, do not send paper documents or e-mails in for scanning. These documents will not be processed! Request missing invoices from your local SIMS support team. The invoices will then be requested directly from the supplier, if necessary.

Firstly, if the invoice is nonetheless sent electronically, this potentially creates costly invoice duplicates that have to be captured, investigated, and deleted. Secondly, invoices might not be transmitted due to technical errors in the process. The support team will not become aware of such problems if you do not report them immediately.

When suppliers send paper invoices in addition to e-invoices, please contact the SIMS support team so they can ask the supplier to stop that practice. It creates potential for duplicates (see above) and is an unnecessary waste of resources.

In case of wrong data on e-invoices (wrong receiver’s address etc.), please send a query to Post Office or contact the supplier directly and ask for a correction.

List of Suppliers

Globally Contracted Suppliers

Belgium Contracted Suppliers

France Contracted Suppliers

Germany / Austria / Switzerland Contracted Suppliers

Norway Contracted Suppliers

Sweden Contracted Suppliers

UK and Ireland Contracted Suppliers

E-Mail Watcher

Process Description

Through the E-Mail Watcher, PDF invoices can be sent to the system directly, via a central e-mail address for every country. The information is fetched by the e-mail watcher and forwarded as an image – including the e-mail – to the capturing team.

The capturing is then done as for paper invoices. The major steps of this process are:

1. Automated opening and conversion of the e-mail and the attached file
2. Allocation to a Client
3. Semi-automated character recognition to capture information on the invoice, e.g.,
   • Supplier
   • Invoice number
   • Invoice date
   • Line items
   • Total amount
   • Currency
4. Manual check for mandatory invoice components (invoice number, VAT number, etc.)

Within SIMS, you are able to access the original e-mail in the invoice details, under the Mails tab.

Prerequisites

In order to ensure the proper functioning of the workflow, the following rules need to be adhered to. Invoices that do not meet these prerequisites are not processed, and no notice will be given to the supplier.

• All invoices must be sent by the invoice issuer directly to the central mail address (see below for a list per country)
• Documents may in no case be sent to the hotel additionally, i.e., no invoice copies, no cc
• Only documents in PDF format may be transmitted
• No protected documents may be sent (e.g., secured by a password or other security settings). Any kind of these settings are leading to a delayed processing or rejection of the invoice
• Only one document per e-mail may be transmitted. The complete e-mail including images of all attached invoices will be accessible from all these invoices within SIMS. This would cause confidentiality risks for sensitive documents that are part of larger batches sent together
• No correspondence, advertising, etc. may be sent to the dedicated address
• Documents from suppliers that participate in e-invoicing may in no case be transmitted by e-mail
• No additional documentation may be attached to the invoice (e.g., reservation or reconciliation lists). These attachments must be added to the document during the approval process
• E-mails with a download link to the invoice cannot be processed. Invoices must be downloaded by the hotel and sent to the central e-mail address. The remaining requirements shall also be adhered to for downloaded invoices

E-Mail Template (English)                                                        E-Mail-Vorlage (German)

Please remember to include the correct central invoice address for your country!

Duplicates and Missing Invoices

It is strongly recommended to have PDF invoices sent by the supplier directly to the central address, with no-one at property level copied in, to avoid duplicate sending. In case you are receiving an invoice e-mail in copy, do not send it again. Checking duplicate e-mail invoices is a time-consuming process for Post Office staff, and will be charged to you with the cost of an e-mail invoice plus one invoice line.

When you are missing an invoice that the supplier sent by e-mail, please contact your local support team. Do not re-send the invoice yourself or ask the supplier to send it again. This will result in additional workload for Post Office, and will be charged (see above).

Addresses

The dedicated invoice addresses per country are:

Paper Invoices

In a number of countries, there is a central address for the collection of invoices sent by suppliers on paper. In those countries, paper invoices shall not be sent to the hotels, but directly to the central address. The central addresses per country are:

For details regarding these addresses, e.g., how the invoice address must be formatted to meet legal requirements, please contact your local admin office.

Prerequisites

In countries with a central postal address, invoices should be sent to this address by the supplier directly. The invoice address must at the same time adhere to the country-specific rules, e.g., in order to allow for input tax deduction. This reduces working time required (for opening and forwarding invoice letters etc.) and speeds up the process, so that suppliers receive payments in time.

If invoices are nevertheless received by the hotel, they should be forwarded to the central Post Office address, and the supplier informed about the correct recipient.

In countries without a central address, a pick-up service for invoices from the entities’ locations is set up.

Invoices must always include the order numbers from the electronic ordering system (rezPIN, ZYCUS, GRESS-net, etc.) in order to match imported orders automatically with capturing. For invoices without order number, the matching must be done manually in the hotel.

Invoices sent for scanning:

• must not be stapled, glued, etc.
• must be arranged in proper order
• must be  separated from delivery notes

Capturing Guidelines

All new invoices undergo basic checks regarding their rules compliance and integrity. Additionally, there are country-specific legal requirements that are outlined in the capturing guidelines. These guidelines are provided as a separate document per country.

While the checks are performed automatically or manually by Post Office staff, every user needs to check as part of their approval that a documents meets local legal requirements.

Apart from legal requirements, the capturing guidelines also contain information on organisational issues that deviate from the SIMS standard procedures in certain countries. In case there are no guidelines for a particular country, the standard procedures apply.

Capturing Guidelines Belgium

Capturing Guidelines Denmark

Capturing Guidelines France

Capturing Guidelines Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Capturing Guidelines Italy

Capturing Guidelines Netherlands

Capturing Guidelines Norway

Capturing Guidelines Spain

Capturing Guidelines Sweden

Capturing Guidelines United Kingdom and Ireland

Invoice Compliance and Integrity Checks

Process Description

Upon entry in SIMS, all invoices undergo a number of automated and manual compliance and integrity checks. The following information is included in these checks:

• Amount Differences: A certain difference between the sum of the line items and the sub total of an invoice will be accepted. The accepted difference is country-specific and is specified in the Capturing Guidelines for your country
• Invoice Number: Each invoice which contains VAT must provide an invoice number.  Invoices without VAT can be accepted without an invoice number
• Invoice Date: An invoice date has always to be stated. If none is provided the invoice has to be rejected
• Supplier Address: A complete supplier address has to be stated on the invoice
• Customer Address: The hotel address or the one of the legal entity has to be provided on the invoice
• Tax ID: Invoices which are containing VAT must provide a VAT registration number

Invoices without this information have to be returned.

If one of the compliance or integrity check fails, then the related invoice or credit note has to be returned by BancTec with a request to provide an amended one. The hotel / admin unit will not be notified in such cases.

There is a standard rejection letter for every country, examples of which you can find below. Changes in hotel-/business unit-specific information (addresses, contact persons etc.) must be reported to your local support team immediately.

Rejected Invoices in SIMS

Rejected invoices can be found in the SIMS Archive – Documents with the status Rejected. Both in the results table and in the document details, the field QA Remark shows a comment on the reason for the rejection. The QA Reason in the table indicates, whether the document was returned to the supplier.

Rejected invoices can be selected in the SIMS archive by searching for the status “rejected”. For invoices that were returned, the return letter sent to the supplier together with the invoice can be found in the Document Archive, under Attachments in the sub-tab Return Letter.

This tab is empty for invoices that have not been returned.

Capturing Deadlines

Invoices that are delivered to the Post Office/BPO office until 11 a.m. local time will be scanned and processed the same day. The remaining invoices will be available the following day.

Accepted Differences

The accepted differences between the invoice total and the line items are country-specific, and specified in the capturing guidelines. Please note that the accepted difference amount is fixed, regardless of the invoice amount, e.g., invoices with a difference of more than GBP 0.20 between net total and line items will be rejected, no matter whether the net amount is GBP 20.00 or GBP 20,000.00.

The accepted differences for all countries have been determined as follows:

Delivery Notes

Delivery notes for goods received can be imported to SIMS and attached to the respective invoices, in order to enhance the available information for the approval and archive all relevant information at one place for auditing purposes. SIMS offers two distinct possibilities for that, the first being the preferred method:

1. Capturing of a barcode on property, with scanning and attachment done by Post Office; or

2. Direct upload of a scanned delivery note on property.

The advantages and disadvantages of these possibilities are:

Barcode Method

+      Scanning done centrally with high-quality scanners

+    Automatic allocation to the invoices

+    Possibility to use hand scanners for capturing barcode numbers for speed and error minimisation

-     Potential source of errors through typing barcode numbers manually

-     Delay in allocation because delivery notes must be posted to and processed by the Post Office

Upload Method

+    Immediate allocation of the delivery note to the invoice

+    Availability as backup for the approvers

+    No additional expenses for postage of delivery notes to the Post Office

-     Worktime for scanning documents locally

-     Potential of low-quality scans

With the Attachments function in the Attachments tab, delivery notes can be added to the invoice.

Barcode Method

Formal Prerequisites

All delivery notes must be sent to the Post Office/BPO office for scanning. Please make sure that the following requirements are met by all documents:

• Do not staple or glue delivery notes; use paper clips for multi-page documents instead
• Do not use adhesive tape
• electronic orders (Zycus, Gress) are imported to SIMS automatically, and do not need to be added as delivery notes

There are two ways to process multiple delivery notes that belong to a single invo

1. Put one barcode sticker on the front page of the batch, and use a paper clip to attach the rest
2. Put a barcode sticker on every delivery note

 Combining delivery notes under one barcode means that only this barcode needs to be keyed in to SIMS, while separating them allows you to find a certain delivery note without scrolling through a large PDF.

Compliant barcode stickers must be ordered from astrid.bialkowski@radissonhotels.com for EUR 18.75 + shipping per roll with 2,500 stickers.

For workplaces with high volumes of delivery notes, it can make sense to use a handheld scanner for entering the barcode number in SIMS in order to reduce typing errors.

Barcode Entering

When assigned a barcode, paper documents are matched automatically. The procedure is described below.

1. Put a barcode sticker on the delivery note

2. Send it in to your BPO office for scanning

Unallocated Delivery Notes Handling

Delivery notes that cannot be allocated to an invoice – e.g., because the barcode sticker is missing, the barcode was mistyped in SIMS, or not entered at all – are shown in the Unallocated delivery notes inbox.

Document Checks

Invoices that do not pass an integrity check are automatically rejected and returned without prior consent from the hotel. Returned invoices are, however, visible in the Controlling inbox Open Queries with the status returned. From there, they can be archived in batch. This way, the Controller / GM always have full visibility of returned invoices.

General Queries and Rescan requests sent to the support team should be processed on the following business day, rejections within three days. Please do not contact support on the same day, if the invoice is not returned immediately when posting a query!

Automated Document Checks

All documents pass through a number of automated checks upon capturing. Documents that do not pass one of the checks are flagged according to the type of problem detected and made available in the Open Queries inbox of one of the following roles:

Query to Accounting            – SSC
Query to BancTec                – Administrator
Query to Controlling             – Controlling, GM
Query to Postoffice              – Post Office

Here, the documents are cross-checked by the respective user and either released into the normal workflow, or deleted.

Invoices can also appear in an Open Query inbox when they are sent there manually by another user, using the Query function.

Duplicate Check

The duplicate check performs three types of checks that are shown in the table below. The Open Queries inbox, to which the document will be forwarded if it is flagged, depends on the type of check it did not pass.

General checks

The five general checks are shown in the table below. The Open Queries inbox, to which the document will be forwarded if it is flagged, depends on the type of check it did not pass.

Open Queries

In the query inbox, you can find all Queries posted to your role by other users, as well as invoices flagged as “to check” by one of the automated checks. Which types of queries you receive depends on your country-specific setup. For more information, please refer to the SIMS User Guide for your role.

Check Duplicate

A routine checks all invoices per client for duplicates. Invoices are flagged as Duplicates if:

• they have an invoice number that has already been captured before

• the same combination of amount and invoice date has been captured before

Note: the duplicate check is deliberately very strict and will regularly include documents that are indeed no duplicates. This is done to minimise the danger of duplicate bookings and payments. A manual QA check is in place, and only unclear cases are forwarded to Controlling.

The standard procedure for resolving Duplicate queries is the following:

Zero Amount

All invoices with a total amount of zero are flagged as Zero Amount. The standard procedure for resolving Zero Amount queries is the following:

Missing Creditor

When the capturing team cannot match an existing creditor to an invoice, it is flagged as Missing Creditor. The standard procedure for resolving Missing Creditor queries is the following:

Correspondence

Non-invoice documents are classified either as Letter, Reminder, or Statement. These document types are summarised Correspondence The standard procedure for these types of documents is the following.

Note: Statements can be archived via multi select by ticking the selection boxes in the front column. Archiving starts from the top and stops, if any inapplicable document is reached, e.g., an invoice or reminder. To continue, all remaining statements need to be selected again.

User Management (Single Sign On)

Users that have not had a SIMS account before need to be set up in the system. The setup of a new user must be requested by e-mail from the local SIMS support team. The hotel’s Controller and / or General Manager shall request the change. Changes in the Controlling or General Manager roles must be authorised by the Regional Office.

For the setup, it is crucial that the new user has an Intranet account and a personal e-mail address (see User Setup).

Note: new users will be notified when the setup is done. They are activated on the following day.

Accounting

Accounting Interface

The necessary settings for the accounting interface are country-specific and depend on your accounting system. Especially how the information on cost centres and cost units is transferred and how prepayments and accruals are treated, can be different. To which extent they are available can be set individually per business unit.

Postings are transferred from SIMS to the ERP either manually or at a specified interval. The intervals are set as follows:

Belgium	max. 10 minutes after being started manually
BRUZT	Automatically every 3 minutes
Denmark	Automatically every 3 minutes
France	max. 10 minutes after being started manually
Germany, Austria, Switzerland	Automatically every 15 minutes
LONPH	Automatically every 3 minutes
the Netherlands	Automatically every 15 minutes
Norway	Automatically every 10 minutes
Sweden	Automatically every 3 minutes
UKIRE	max. 5 minutes after being started manually

The payment date in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands is transferred in the normal upload interval as laid out above.

If supported by the accounting system, the status of the document, i.e., whether it was successfully imported and booked, will be reported back to SIMS and displayed for the document. The mode is also country-specific. The states used in SIMS are:

Country	New	Exported	Processed	Failed
Belgium
BRUZT
Denmark
France
Germany, Austria, Switzerland
LONPH
the Netherlands
Norway
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
UKIRE

Master Data Updates

The leading system for all master data – supplier information, accounts, cost centres, VAT information etc. – is the accounting software. All changes must be made there and are regularly transferred to SIMS. The frequency of the transfers is country-specific and can vary among different types of information. This means that depending on your location, changes made in the ERP may not be reflected in SIMS immediately.

Country	Supplier Information	Accounts	Cost Centres	Cost Unit	Tax Key	Valuation Matrix	Payment Terms	Transfer Frequency
Belgium								Upon export
BRUZT								Every 3 min.
Denmark								Every 3 min.
France								Upon export
Germany, Austria, Switzerland								Every 15 min.
LONPH								Every 3 min.
the Netherlands								Every 15 min.
Norway								Every 10 min.
Sweden								Every 3 min.
UKIRE								Daily (6 a.m.)

Exchange Rate

For the automatic translation of invoice amounts from foreign currencies to the accounting currency, the exchange rate for invoice date will be used, irrespective of the import date.

The export to accounting will always be made in invoice currency, meaning that for the booking, the exchange rate from the accounting system will be used. Thus, the final amount booked can differ from the automatic translation in SIMS.

Solely the setup for France is different: here, all invoices are exported in EUR.

Document Retention Period

All documents are kept in the system for a minimum period of eleven years, this is, the balance sheet date plus ten years. Country-specific differences might apply.