Royal FloraHolland digitises finance with SAP S/4HANA

Royal FloraHolland – one of the largest flower auctions in the world – processes millions of flowers and plants every day, accounting for over 90% of Dutch flower trade. In this fast-paced environment, speed, scalability, and reliability are critical. That’s why the cooperative set a bold financial ambition: to become one of the global top 10 ‘Best in Finance’. To achieve this, the invoicing process not only had to be flawless but also continuously available – with 0% downtime as the benchmark. This ambition called for more than just optimisation: it required future-proof, streamlined financial processes that are available anytime, anywhere.

Why Royal FloraHolland chose McCoy  

Royal FloraHolland faced several challenges: improving real-time financial insights, increasing process efficiency, and reducing dependency on custom-built ERP solutions. At the same time, the organisation aimed to attract top financial talent by becoming a leader in financial excellence. The need for standardisation and faster, more reliable reporting was a key driver. When it became clear that a traditional ERP upgrade wouldn't support this vision, McCoy came into the picture – as a strategic and innovative sparring partner.

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McCoy as a partner 

What convinced Royal FloraHolland was McCoy’s out-of-the-box implementation strategy. Instead of upgrading the existing ERP environment, we recommended a standard integration from SAP S/4HANA into the existing invoicing process. This ensured continuity for the critical finance flow while minimising implementation risks. We also recommended implementing SAP S/4HANA directly in the cloud, similar to a 'RISE with SAP' migration approach. This ultimately increased flexibility and simplified future system management. One additional benefit: Royal FloraHolland found all required expertise – from finance to procurement – within McCoy. One partner, one vision, short lines of communication.

What they got out of it

The private cloud implementation of SAP S/4HANA was completed in just six months – including a complex year-end closing. For an environment of this scale and complexity, that is an exceptionally short turnaround time. Since go-live, the system has run smoothly – with zero downtime. The project was awarded second place in the SAP Quality Awards for EMEA. By radically standardising, Royal FloraHolland gained efficiency: fewer manual tasks, fewer FTEs, and reduced dependency on IT. Real-time insights became the new standard through seamless integration between procurement and invoicing. Financial planning also became more robust and better aligned. Internally, “Custom code is fraud” became a mantra – a sign of a successful cultural shift.  

How we achieved this together

Two key success factors made all the difference: strong collaboration and a firm focus on standardisation. Biweekly steering committee meetings kept all stakeholders aligned – constructive, focused, and always business-driven. While custom development in SAP can be tempting, we challenged every request against business objectives. No custom code unless it added real value. That shared discipline resulted in a manageable, scalable, and future-ready system.