Talisman Energy UK: Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

Talisman Energy UK is an upstream oil and gas producer and subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc.—a global, independent oil and gas company based in Canada.

Talisman Energy UK became an operator in the North Sea in 1997 and, following significant acquisition activity, now operates the industry's second-largest number of oil fields in the North Sea.

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In commencing operations in the UK North Sea, Talisman Energy, like many of its peers, had to choose between investment in core offshore assets and facilities—where commitment to safe, economical production is critical—and investment in support activities, which is less important.

Following a detailed investigation, Talisman decided the best option was to outsource back-office finance operations to Accenture. Accenture had an established finance and accounting BPO business in Aberdeen, Scotland, specializing in the upstream energy industry and staffed with Accenture finance and accounting professionals with deep skills in the energy industry and extensive UK accounting experience. This capability provided Talisman with a readily available, skilled back office and systems.

In addition to providing functional expertise and experienced energy industry accounting personnel, Accenture established an SAP-based oil accounting solution—saving Talisman from having to implement its own system. It also provided reduced operating costs since the system was shared by several other major upstream energy clients.

The Talisman Accenture outsourcing relationship was expanded in 2001 following Talisman's acquisition of Norwegian production assets. Accenture was able to deploy experienced personnel and the SAP system through the Accenture Delivery Center in Stavanger, Norway, to support Talisman's accounting operations.

Talisman's contract renewal (in 2005) advanced the organization's journey to high performance further—this time by transferring select finance and accounting processes to Accenture's delivery center in Bangalore, India. This entire transition was completed in five weeks, with skilled, experienced personnel in the Accenture Delivery Center in Bangalore assuming responsibility for several finance processes.

Together, Talisman and Accenture have implemented numerous innovations, assets and tools alongside the SAP system to ensure that finance processes keep improving and costs are reduced wherever practical.

One year into the current 10-year outsourcing contract with Accenture, Talisman's goals of reducing costs and further leveraging high-quality external resources have been achieved. Proof of Talisman's progress is in the metrics. Accenture's performance is regularly assessed via more than 60 key performance indicators. Frequently, Accenture meets these KPI standards 100 percent and regularly scores 6 out of 7 on client satisfaction surveys.

Talisman and Accenture are enjoying the successes of this innovative and collaborative arrangement where each can leverage their skills in the pursuit of high performance. Every renewal of the contract strives for a new set of more aggressive service- and cost-performance targets. According to Nick Ainsley, finance manager, Talisman UK, "Our partnership with Accenture is delivering improved commercial benefits to Talisman, along with a high level of operational excellence and service delivery."