Finance transformation

Reshaping how finance operates, not just which system it operates in.

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What is it?

New software on an unchanged process produces the same results more expensively. We work on the process, the controls and the operating model alongside the technology, so the close is shorter and the team spends more time on analysis than on collection.

For a technical reader

The measurable object is the close calendar and the control framework attached to it. Baselining means instrumenting the current cycle: when each task starts and finishes, how many journals are manual, how many reconciliations are outstanding at each day of close. Standardisation has to precede automation because automating a process that differs by entity encodes those differences permanently. The chart of accounts is the structural decision underneath all of it, since a chart that cannot serve both statutory and management reporting guarantees a permanent mapping exercise.

Our services

Current-state baselineCycle times, manual touchpoints and effort distribution, measured rather than estimated.
Target operating modelHow finance is organised, what centralises, and the service levels between functions.
Process redesignRecord-to-report, order-to-cash and procure-to-pay redesigned and documented.
Control frameworkControls mapped to the redesigned process, with evidence requirements defined.

What’s covered

Record to report
Close calendar, journal workflow, reconciliations and the controls around them
Order to cash
Billing, collections, credit management and cash application
Procure to pay
Requisition through to payment, including invoice exception handling
Chart of accounts
Redesign to support both statutory and management reporting without manual mapping
Shared services
Which activities centralise, which stay local, and the service levels between them
Control framework
Controls mapped to the redesigned process rather than inherited from the old one

Business problems we solve

The close takes longer every yearComplexity accretes without anyone removing steps. Baselining shows where the time actually goes.
Finance spends its time collecting, not analysingAutomating collection is what frees capacity for the analysis the business wants.
Each entity does it differentlyStandardisation first, then automation, or the variation becomes permanent.
A new system did not change anythingBecause the process was unchanged. Technology without process redesign reproduces the old outcome more expensively.

Our delivery approach

  1. 01
    Baseline the current stateCycle times, manual touchpoints, where the effort actually goes. Measured, not estimated.
  2. 02
    Redesign around the targetProcess designed for where you want to be, then the system configured to support it, in that order.
  3. 03
    Standardise before automatingAutomating an inconsistent process encodes the inconsistency. Standardisation comes first.
  4. 04
    Shift the team's workRoles and skills change when the manual work goes. Planning for that is part of the engagement.

Solutions & project types

Examples of the work we take on in this area. These describe project shapes, not named client engagements.

Close accelerationInstrumenting the close calendar and removing the critical-path steps iteratively.
Shared services designDefining which activities centralise and the service levels that govern them.
Chart of accounts redesignA structure serving statutory and management reporting without manual mapping.
Control framework refreshRebuilding controls around a redesigned process rather than inheriting the old set.

Technologies & platforms

Core systems

  • Oracle Cloud ERP
  • Oracle EPM
  • SAP
  • NetSuite

Close & reconciliation

  • Oracle ARCS
  • BlackLine
  • Task management

Process

  • Process mining
  • Value stream mapping
  • RACI and control matrices

Reporting

  • Oracle Analytics Cloud
  • Power BI
  • Narrative Reporting

Automation

  • Workflow orchestration
  • RPA where no API exists
Learn this field

Where to start with finance transformation.

Secondary to the work itself, but genuinely useful if you are building the skill. Every link goes to official documentation or an official channel.

Beginner

  • The financial close cycle, step by step
  • Record-to-report, order-to-cash, procure-to-pay
  • What an internal control is and what evidences it
  • Reading a trial balance and a reconciliation

Intermediate

  • Process mapping and cycle-time measurement
  • Chart of accounts design principles
  • Shared services models and service level design
  • Control frameworks: COSO, SOX requirements

Advanced

  • Operating model design for finance at scale
  • Process mining on ERP event logs
  • Multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation design
  • Benefit realisation and tracking to the ledger

Certifications

  • Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  • Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA)
  • Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
  • Oracle Financials Cloud: General Ledger Implementation Professional

Practice projects

  • Map your close calendar and find the critical path
  • Count manual journals in one period and categorise why each exists
  • Design a chart of accounts serving both statutory and management views
  • Build a control matrix for order-to-cash with evidence requirements
  • Measure one process before and after removing a single step
FAQs

Questions we get asked.

Is this a technology project or a process project?

Both, but process leads. New software on an unchanged process reproduces the same results at higher cost, which is the most common way these programmes disappoint.

Do we have to implement a new ERP?

Often not. Meaningful close and control improvements are frequently available within the system you already run.

How do you measure success?

Against the baseline taken at the start: cycle times, manual touchpoints, control exceptions. Without that baseline, improvement claims are unfalsifiable.

What about the team?

Roles change when manual work goes, and that needs planning rather than discovering. Capability transition is part of the engagement.

Enterprise Transformation

Related services.

Procurement & sourcingBringing spend under management with a process people will actually follow.Supply-chain operationsPlanning, inventory and fulfilment that hold up when demand does not behave.Process automationRemoving manual steps where it pays, and saying so where it does not.Operating-model designHow work, decisions and accountability are arranged once the technology changes.
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