Preliminary Project Plan: Toll Accounts Payable Notification System

This project plan outlines the implementation of a four-stage notification process within Toll’s Accounts Payable (AP) framework to improve customer communication regarding invoice payments. The plan details the project's scope, including the use of Jira Software for managing notifications, and defines four key phases: development, implementation, trial, and review. Constraints such as project approval delays, staff training, and IT system compatibility are identified. The project aims to reduce customer frustration by providing timely updates on invoice processing and payments, ultimately fostering better customer relationships. The plan includes details on the project's scope, constraints, schedule, and resource management, providing a comprehensive overview of the project's objectives and approach. The project's success will be measured by the integration of the Jira Software with Toll's AP process and improved customer satisfaction.

PRELIMINARY PROJECT PLAN <Full Version Template>
<Project Name>
<Branch>
National Project Management System
Business Projects-IT-Enabled
Initiation Phase

<Project Name> Preliminary Project Plan Full
Instructions
This document is your template to producing a Preliminary Project Plan (PPP), a key requirement
for the implementation of any project.
Document Purpose
The PPP is the document that defines the plan that will be used to meet the project objectives during
the Identification Stage. It will include why the project is being initiated, what is to be done, who
will be involved in its development, when it will be done and how it will be done. Once the
Identification Stage is completed, and the project is approved at Preliminary Project Approval
(PPA), the Project Plan will be used to transition the project for delivery by the Project Delivery
Team. If the project is not approved, or if it is put on hold, the PPP becomes the key record of the
project’s project management processes during the Identification Stage.
Who produces this document?
If the Business Projects-IT-Enabled is for a single PWGSC branch or for multiple branches, it is the
responsibility of the Account Executive for the principle business owner Branch to produce this
document. NOTE: The ITSB Client Executive is informed, and the IM/IT Enterprise Architecture
Review Board will begin its technology impact review.
If the Business Projects-IT-Enabled is for shared infrastructure services for the benefit of an OGD,
it is the responsibility of the Enterprise Partnership Management organization in ITSB to produce
the document in consultation with the OGD(s) OPI.
Using this Template
<To create an Preliminary Project Plan from this template, simply:
1. Replace the title on the cover page with the name of your project and the organization
information.
2. Replace the <italicized text> in the document header with your project name and information.
3. Save your document with a filename that is in accordance with current branch document
naming standards.
4. Update the filename in the document footer by right-clicking and selecting “edit footer”.
5. Complete the entire template. Each section contains abbreviated instructions, shown in italics,
which can be removed once your document is finalized. Tables are also provided as a
suggested layout for some of the information required.
6. Update the table of contents by right-clicking and selecting Update Field, then update entire
table.
7. Note: Replace all the text between the less than / greater than symbols “<…>” with project
specific statements.
8. Delete this page when the PPP is complete.>
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Revision History
Version
Numbe
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Description Date
Modified Author
1.0
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Authority Signatures
The Project Lead (Business Side) and the Project Manager agree to deliver the Identification Stage
of this project in accordance with this PPP and amend it periodically as project parameters change.
Prepared by:
(PWGSC) Signature
Please print:
Name Position Date
Recommended by:
(PWGSC) Signature
Please print:
Name Title Date
Approved by:
(See NPMS procedures for approval Body)
(PWGSC) Signature
Please print:
Name Title Date
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Prepared by:
(PWGSC) Signature
Please print:
Name Project
Analyst
Date

<Project Name> Preliminary Project Plan Full
Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary...........................................................1
2 Introduction..................................................................1
3 Scope Management...........................................................2
3.1 Scope Statement.............................................................................................................2
3.1.1 Constraints.................................................................................................................4
3.1.2 Assumptions..............................................................................................................6
3.1.3 Stakeholders..............................................................................................................7
4 Requirements Management..................................................9
5 Schedule Management........................................................9
5.1 High-Level Activity Definition and Sequencing............................................................9
5.2 Milestone Schedule.........................................................................................................9
6 Cost Management.............................................................9
6.1 Funding.............................................................................................................................9
6.2 Budget and Cash Flow...................................................................................................9
7 Change Management........................................................10
7.1 Request for Change Impact Assessment..................................................................10
7.2 Change Control.............................................................................................................10
8 Quality Management........................................................10
8.1 Project Reviews.............................................................................................................10
9 Human Resources Management / Staffing Management..............10
9.1 Organization...................................................................................................................10
9.2 Roles and Responsibilities...........................................................................................10
10 Communications Management............................................10
11 Risk Management............................................................11
12 Information Management...................................................11
13 Procurement Management.................................................11
14 Stage Closure................................................................................11
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List of Appendices
Appendix 1 – Attached Documents..................................................................................................................5
Appendix 2 – References..................................................................................................................................6
Appendix 3 – Glossary.....................................................................................................................................7
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1 Executive Summary
<Describe the key issues driving the project. Clearly demonstrate the problem/opportunity and how
resolution of this problem opportunity provides best value, while meeting investment plan, business,
technical or legal/political/regulatory objectives. “Cut and paste" from the Statement of
Requirement (SoR) if necessary but be sure the statements are concise. The summary is intended to
provide the reader with a quick overview and good understanding of the essential aspects of the
project. Provide background information to describe the context for the project, the identified need
and the reasons for initiating the project. This section should be based on the "Background" section
of the SoR..>
2 Introduction
Toll was established in Newcastle, Sydney Australia by Albert Toll in 1888. Toll was later
rebranded and now owned by Japan Post since 2015. Toll is now recognised as a world
leader in logistics, warehousing, parcel pick-up and delivery. Toll also employs over forty-
four thousand employees covering fifty countries, with a total revenue of $8.7 billion (Toll
2019).
To support financial growth, Toll has invested heavily in Information Technology (IT),
training, development and finance. Part of Toll’s commitment is to streamline its customer
support, this will be achieved by firstly promoting an easy pick-up and delivery process,
and secondly, to provide all customers, contractors and businesses with an easy Accounts
Payable (AP) process. (AP) department, the AP department is responsible for processing
logistic invoices to meet customer and business requirements, however due to the large
number of invoices processed each day within each department, many customers
experience ongoing frustration and difficulties with receiving payments from Toll.
The project that we propose, is to provide support to the AP process within Toll, our project
is to provide customers with a rapid payment notification when their invoice is processed
and payed. This simple notification process will provide each customer with an electronic
notification sent to their email or smart phone to notify them of the amount payed, and into
which business account the amount was paid. We believe that this simple notification
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process will allow Toll to better manage their payment process, together with fostering
customer relationships. By providing customer payment notification, Toll also aims to
reduce the large number of disgruntle customers following up their payments from Toll.
(280)
3 Scope Management
3.1 Scope Statement
<Provide a high-level initial scope statement, including what is within and what is not within
scope; that is, the scope of the project needed to meet the stated objective. It is important to keep in
mind that the scope includes the requirements for both the product scope (the features and functions
of a product or service) and project scope (the work required to deliver the product).>
The scope of the project is to implement a four-stage notification process within Toll’s
Accounts Payable (AP) framework to alert all customer, contractors and businesses of the
progress and payment of their invoice. The new notification process will provide all Toll’s
customers with the following notifications:
 Stage one notification: Supervisor seeking senior manager approval;
 Stage two notification: Manager approves invoice;
 Stage three notification: Purchase Order (PO) is raised;
 Stage four notification: Payment is processed.
The new notification process will allow all customers seeking invoice payments from Toll to
receive notifications as their invoice progresses through the above notification process.
The new notification process will be supported by the Jira Software which was developed
by Atlassian, the Jira Software allows businesses such as the AP department within Toll to
“plan, assign, track, report and manage work” (Atlassian 2019), this notification process
will allow Toll’s AP department to notify all its customers of their invoice as it progresses
through the AP process within Toll.
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Toll’s new notification process will be rolled out in four main phases. The four phases are
as follows:
 Phase one: Notification development stage:
 Phase two: Implementation stage;
 Phase three: Trial notification stage;
 Phase four: Notification review stage.
Phase one (3 months in length, June 2019 to September 2019) is the development stage,
within this stage, the project group will review the current AP process within Toll and
identify the stages where the Jira Software would be best implemented to support the new
notification process. Within this stage, the project group will also identify a trail site within
Toll and determine the number of staff member that will trained to deliver the new
notification process.
The site identified for the trial of the new notification process, is the Toll Express Parcel
site, part of the Global Express Division, located at 53-61 Horsburgh Drive, Altona North,
VIC 3025. The AP department within this site is made up of one senior manager and four
department staff. All staff within this site will be trained to deliver the new notification
process.
Phase two (6 months in length, September 2019 March 2020) is the implementation
stage, within this stage the Jira Software is implemented within Toll’s AP process. The aim
of the implementation phase is for both systems tes(Jira Software and AP process) to work
simultaneously, whereby a notification is successfully sent to a sample customer to advice
of the progress and payment of their invoice.
Phase three (3 months trial, March 2020 to June 2020) is the trail stage of the project,
within this phase, the Jira Software is tested against the project requirements. The
requirements of this stage are for a successful notification to be sent and received by a
sample customer, the sample customer must receive four main notifications; three main
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notifications must notify the sample customer of the progression of their invoice, and also
receive the fourth and final notification which will notify the sample customer of payment of
their invoice.
Phase four (3 months review, July 2020 to October 2020) is the notification review phase
of the project, we believe that this phase is the most important stage of the project, within
this stage, the project team will review notification performance reports to determine
successful integration between the Jira Software and Toll’s AP process. Within this phase,
each notification phase will be reviewed to determine system integration problems and
further remedial actions. (564)
3.1.1 Constraints
<Constraints or restrictions limit or place conditions on the project, especially those associated
with the project scope (e.g. a hard deadline, a predetermined budget, a set milestone, contract
provisions, privacy or security considerations, etc.)>
The main constrain within the new AP notification process include the following:
Project approval delays:
Delays in project approval will delay the development phase of the project. Causing delays
in the development of the project, will impact the overall delivery of the project and
financial cost of the program.
Toll’s AP department staff resources:
Within the new notification process, AP staff will be required to be trained, and therefore
impact Toll’s daily requirement to support staff and employees requiring AP assistance. AP
casuals may need to be considered by Toll to continue to support the Express Parcel Site
at Altona North.
Toll’s AP staff resistance to support new process:
Resistance by Toll’s AP employees to learn the new notification process and assist with
Jira’s Software integration within the AP framework, may cause the roll out phases to be
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extended. Extension of the new AP process may cause project delivery delays and further
financial impact to the overall cost of the program.
Toll’s AP staff skill level and experience may not be appropriate:
Toll’s AP staff may not have the skill level to understand new notification program
Information Technology (IT) requirements, therefore requiring further time to learn new
process. Extension of the new AP process may cause project delivery delays and further
financial impact to the overall cost of the program.
Toll’s IT System:
Toll’s IT system may not support the system requirements to integrate the Jira Software,
therefore limiting the ability for the AP system and Jira Software to access and share
information, causing delays in the implementation of the new notification process.
Ongoing project delays;
Ongoing project delay will incur further extension in the implementation phase of the new
notification process. Project extension of the new AP process may cause project delivery
delays and further financial impact to the overall cost of the program.
Project delivery time;
The time allocated to deliver the new notification process is fifteen months, however
ongoing extension due to unexpected project constrain may cause project delivery delays
and further financial impact to the overall cost of the program. (344)
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3.1.2 Assumptions
<Assumptions are factors that for planning purposes are considered to be true, real or certain.
These assumptions will be validated during the planning process in the Delivery Stage.>
The following assumptions have been identified within the new AP notification project:
Toll’s management support for new AP notification process;
Upper management support for new AP notification process, will provide the positive work
environment required for the success of the project.
Appropriate level of funding to support success of the program;
Toll has assigned appropriate levels of funding to support the success of the new
notification process.
Commitment to the success of the notification process;
All Toll’s staff associated with the new notification process, have confirmed commitment
towards the success of the notification project.
Only one proposal in place:
Toll has confirmed that there is only one AP project in place, this is the only project being
considered at this stage. (121)
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