Issue link: https://pros.com/learn/i/1527449
22 3.1 Settle – the renewal of the accounting flows and processes Settle, or the future of (revenue) accounting, is quite advanced in terms of design. As a matter of fact, there are first airlines working on proof-of-concept type implementations with vendors today, for example to account for orders directly where no EMD has been issued for an ancillary service. In the IATA Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index, 12 companies hold valid certifications for all or a subset of the Settle capabilities. While the APIs exist, early PoCs TiM has worked on with various airlines and vendors have shown that they are not likely to meet all the needs of the airlines and may require some changes prior to production use at scale. There are several vendor products well prepared, and at least one of the major vendors has shown they are well prepared to implement with airlines. However, again the use at scale will be the final proof. There are several unresolved business process re- engineering challenges, of which we will highlight three here. • Removal of tickets - airlines need courage and many changes to processes to remove tickets – and understand the consequences thereof. One could say it should be easy, LCCs have been operating without tickets for decades. However, so many processes today rely on tickets in the full-service airline world that this is a major step. This hesitation to remove tickets has led to accounting system providers largely only being able to simulate the processes based fully on the order. • Settlement between airlines and with agencies – IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) is based on the concept of tickets. Without tickets there still needs to be a cost effective and efficient method to transfer funds between airlines and agencies. IATA is working on this with a programme known as Settlement with Orders (SwO).IATA defines SwO as "a framework for the settlement of orders between partners. It consists of a lean XML data exchange standard following a process agreed by the industry. Based on a sales agreement agreement and commitment to pay between two parties, the funds clearing can be initiated by a simple request for clearance with minimal data. The partners are informed about the settlement process results based on the same data exchange."