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Finance process optimisation for the close and the reporting cycle as they run.
We draw the close as it runs handoff by handoff, and remove the steps the data model can carry on its own.
Finance process optimisation reads how a group's close, forecast and reporting cycle run in practice, then removes the steps that patch the data model. Constancia, an EPM consultancy, does it for multi-entity groups whose close has stretched past the date the board pack needs.
- Draws
- Each cycle as it runs, day by day, with the person who owns each step.
- Finds
- The workbook, the re-key and the email that the process document leaves out.
- Removes
- The steps that exist because 2 systems disagree, once the data model settles the disagreement.
The process document and the process as run differ in 6 places, and we read those first.
We time each cycle over 1 full month before we redraw anything, and the timings go to the CFO first.
- 01
The entity close
Each entity finishes its ledger to its own calendar, and we time every step from the last posting to the loaded trial balance.
- 02
The group consolidation
We follow the trial balances through translation, matching and elimination, then note every point where a person re-keys a figure.
- 03
The forecast cycle
The forecast is collected from the entities each month, and we record how many workbooks it passes through before it reaches the model.
- 04
The board pack
Every figure in the pack is traced to the cell it came from, and the figures typed in by hand are counted.
- 05
The reconciliations
We list the reconciliations run each month, name who runs each one and mark which of them exist because 2 systems hold the same number.
- 06
The workarounds
Every step that the process document leaves out is a workaround, and we name each one with the person who performs it.
A cycle that runs differently in 2 entities is drawn twice, and both drawings go into the findings.
The time in a close goes into the handoffs, and the handoffs exist where 2 systems disagree.
Our consultants have timed the close on 58 implementations over 35 years, and we draw each calendar as run before opening the process document. The document describes the close the team designed, and the calendar shows the close it runs.
Where 8 entities close in 12 working days, days 6 to 9 usually go on waiting for 1 entity and re-keying 2 others.
A workflow redesign moves those 4 days to a different desk, and a settled mapping for the 3 entities removes them.
Finance process optimisation covers the cycles that touch the ledger, and stops at the organisation chart.
The CFO agrees the boundary before the first cycle is timed, and it stays where it was agreed.
In scope
The close, the consolidation, the forecast and the reporting, as each one runs today.
We redraw each cycle after the data model has been settled, and a step survives when it still has a reason. Each surviving step keeps its owner and each removed step gets a retirement date.
- The close calendar, redrawn with the handoffs the model now carries
- The reconciliations that remain, each with an owner
- The forecast collection, loaded straight from the ledgers
- The board pack, with every figure traced to its cell
Out of scope
The organisation chart, the shared service centre and the headcount in finance.
A redrawn close changes who does what on which day, and the decision about roles and grades belongs to the CFO and HR. We hand over the calendar as run and the calendar as designed, and the CFO decides the structure.
- Role design, grading and the size of the finance team
- The location of the shared service centre
- ERP process configuration, which the ERP programme owns
A close redesigned as a workflow and a close rebuilt on a settled model end in different places.
The 2 routes start from the same close calendar and part on the first day 2 systems disagree.
| Redesigned as a workflow | Rebuilt on the data model | |
|---|---|---|
| The step where 2 systems disagree | Moves to a different desk with a new deadline. | Disappears, because the mapping has settled the disagreement. |
| The workbook at the end of the close | Gets a named owner and a checklist. | Is retired on a date, and the model carries what it held. |
| The re-keyed figures in the board pack | Are checked by a second person. | Load from the consolidation, so the second check has nothing to find. |
| The close calendar | Shorter on paper by the days the redesign took out. | Shorter in practice, because the waiting days went with the handoffs. |
| Where the next process change begins | With another workshop when the workaround returns. | In the data model, where the definitions have owners. |
The close automation, the restart and the data assessment each border on process optimisation.
Financial close automation
The close run to a calendar on the platform, with the routine reconciliations running themselves.
Read about the closeFinance transformation
The data and systems half of a wider programme, restarted from the model when it has stalled.
Read about restartsData and AI assessment
The entity by entity read of the ledgers, mappings and workbooks that a process redraw depends on.
Read about the data assessment
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