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EPM consulting for multi-entity groups, priced after we have read the data model.
You have a legacy consolidation, entities that disagree with each other and a date that will not move. We read the model before we quote, and the price then holds through the build and the handover.
EPM consulting puts a group's close, consolidation, planning and reporting on 1 data model. The board pack, the statutory accounts and the forecast then read the same entities, accounts and periods. Constancia is an EPM consultancy for multi-entity groups, and CPM consulting is the same work under the category's older name.
- Platforms
- OneStream (EPM software) and Abacum (FP&A software), and Constancia is an official partner of both.
- Record
- 58 implementations over 35 years.
- Price
- Fixed after the survey, and it holds when the ledger surprises us.
An EPM programme is 6 pieces of work, and the survey scopes all 6 before a price is agreed.
- 01
The data model
Dimensions, hierarchies and the chart of accounts, with every place 2 definitions disagree written down and given an owner.
- 02
Close and consolidation
Currency translation, intercompany eliminations and the last mile that runs in a workbook today, moved into the platform.
- 03
Planning and reporting
The budget, the forecast and the board pack, reading the same model as the close so a variance traces to its ledger.
- 04
Migration from a legacy platform
HFM, BPC, IBM Controller or TM1 moved across, with the new close run beside the old until the difference is zero.
- 05
Handover to your team
Written definitions, lineage for every figure and a runbook, so the finance team runs the close without us.
- 06
The AI layer
SensibleAI or Abacum Intelligence switched on once the model underneath has been checked, and a person signing the result.
EPM and CPM name the same category, and the tool inside it reproduces the model it is given.
EPM stands for enterprise performance management, and CPM software, corporate performance management, is the older name for the same category. The vendors use both names for the same products, so an EPM consultant and a CPM consultant are hired for the same work.
A group with 3 ERPs from 3 acquisitions has 3 charts of accounts. The first design decision is which 1 the group chart is built from.
The design document on a programme like that can have 3 versions by month 4, and nobody can say which 1 the consolidation was built to. We write the definitions once, date them and name the owner, and the argument about each 1 happens before the build starts.
EPM consulting at Constancia has a boundary, and the work on both sides of it is named.
What we take on
The close, the consolidation, the plan and the report, on 1 model at a fixed price.
The work is scoped after the survey and priced once. The same consultants carry it from the survey through the design and the build to the handover, so nobody joins later to learn your environment.
- A legacy consolidation replaced, with a parallel close to zero
- A planning model on drivers the business owns
- A board pack where every measure has 1 owner
What we decline
ERP implementation, single-entity work and staff augmentation.
A single entity with an uncomplicated close gets what it needs from its ERP and a workbook. We do not implement ERPs and we do not take on staff augmentation or management consulting.
- ERP selection and implementation
- Body shop and staff augmentation work
- General AI advisory outside the finance data estate
The ERP records what happened, and the EPM platform turns it into the group's numbers.
| The ERP | The EPM platform | |
|---|---|---|
| What it holds | Every invoice, journal and ledger entry, entity by entity. | The group's numbers, in 1 model that each entity's ledger feeds. |
| What it produces | A statutory ledger for each entity. | The close, the consolidation, the plan and the board pack. |
| Currency and intercompany | Records each transaction in its own currency and its own entity. | Translates the balances, eliminates the intercompany trade and consolidates the result. |
| Who owns it | IT in most groups, with finance as a user. | Finance, once every definition in it has a named owner. |
| What happens without it | No transaction is recorded. | The group numbers are still produced in workbooks, and nobody can say who owns the definitions. |
Questions buyers ask about EPM and CPM software before they hire a consultant.
What does EPM stand for?
EPM stands for enterprise performance management: the close, the consolidation, planning and reporting run on 1 model. CPM, corporate performance management, is the earlier name for the same category.
Is EPM the same as ERP?
An ERP records the transactions of each entity, and an EPM platform reads those ledgers and produces the group's close, plan and board pack. A multi-entity group needs both, and finance should own the EPM layer.
What are examples of EPM software?
The legacy generation is HFM, BPC and IBM Controller, which many UK groups still close on. The current generation Constancia implements is OneStream (EPM software) and Abacum (FP&A software).
What does EPM stand for in SAP?
In SAP the letters mean the same 3 words, enterprise performance management. SAP's product in the category is BPC, which stands for business planning and consolidation. BPC is 1 of the legacy consolidations we migrate groups off.
Is OneStream an EPM or CPM?
OneStream (EPM software) is both, because the 2 terms name the same category. OneStream itself uses CPM in the name of its CPM Express package for mid-market groups.
What is financial consolidation and close?
The close is the routine that finishes each entity's ledger at the end of a period. Consolidation follows it and translates the currencies, removes the intercompany trade and adds the entities into 1 set of group numbers.
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