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Your finance transformation roadmap, written in the order the data model can bear.
We list the preconditions each phase depends on, put them in the order the model can bear, and the dates fall out of that order.
A finance transformation roadmap is the dated sequence a multi-entity group follows to move its close, consolidation and planning onto 1 data model. Constancia, an EPM consultancy, writes it for groups with a fixed date, after we have read the model the sequence depends on.
- Names
- Each precondition a phase depends on, and the entity that has to meet it.
- Orders
- The preconditions in the sequence the data model can bear, with the phases behind them.
- Dates
- Every phase, once its preconditions have an owner and an agreed duration.
A roadmap names 6 preconditions before it names a date, and the model sets their order.
The dates come last on the list, because each one rests on the 5 preconditions above it.
- 01
1 chart of accounts the group agrees on
Every entity's local accounts map to 1 group chart with a named owner, and the map lives in a system that keeps its history.
- 02
1 entity list with ownership and currency
The group holds 1 list of its entities, each with its ownership share, its functional currency and the date it joined.
- 03
Intercompany that matches at source
Each pair of entities agrees its intercompany balance before the group sees it, and the eliminations run on matched pairs.
- 04
Actuals that load without a workbook
Each ERP loads its trial balance to the consolidation on a schedule, and the last mile in a spreadsheet has been retired.
- 05
Definitions with owners
Gross margin, headcount and revenue by customer each carry 1 written definition, signed by the person who would defend it to the board.
- 06
The dates
Each phase takes a date once the preconditions above it have an owner, a duration and a place in the sequence.
A precondition with no owner in an entity stays on the roadmap as a risk with a date.
Most roadmaps take their dates from the budget round and their preconditions from whatever the build team finds later.
Our consultants have challenged the sequence on 58 implementations over 35 years, and the first draft we see usually starts at the go-live date.
Where a group of 9 entities plans a consolidation go-live for March, the roadmap often shows the chart of accounts agreed in February.
The 9 entity controllers then map their accounts in the 3 weeks before go-live, and the first consolidated close is spent reworking the map.
The roadmap covers the data and the systems, and leaves the operating model to the client.
The boundary is drawn with the programme sponsor before the first phase is dated.
In scope
The sequence of data work, system work and cutover, each phase with its preconditions.
We write the phases from the consolidation outwards: the group chart and entity list first, then intercompany, then the platform, then planning on top. Each phase carries the preconditions it waits on and the person who owns each one.
- The order of the entities onto the group chart
- The cutover from the legacy consolidation, with the parallel run dated
- The planning model, after the actuals it reads are settled
- 1 owner and 1 duration against every precondition
Out of scope
The operating model, the ERP programme and the choice of platform vendor.
A roadmap can name the month a shared service centre takes over the close without designing that centre, and ours names it. The ERP programme keeps its own plan, and the roadmap records the dates it depends on.
- Organisation design and the shared service centre
- ERP selection, reimplementation and the ERP programme's own plan
- A recommendation of OneStream (EPM software) or Abacum (FP&A software), which comes after the sequence is set
2 roadmaps for the same group differ by whether the dates or the preconditions come first.
The 2 roadmaps carry the same phases and the same platform, and the order of writing sets them apart.
| Dated at the budget round | Sequenced after the survey | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the dates come from | The go-live is fixed first and the phases are fitted behind it. | Each phase takes its date from the preconditions in front of it. |
| What the chart of accounts phase looks like | A workshop in the month before go-live. | The first phase, with an owner in every entity and a duration each has agreed. |
| Where the third ledger's surprise lands | In a change order, after the contract is signed. | In the survey, priced before the roadmap is dated. |
| Who signs each precondition | The plan lists tasks, so no condition carries a signature. | A named person in the entity that meets it. |
| What the board sees | 1 go-live date, and later the reasons it moved. | The dated sequence, and the precondition each date rests on. |
A roadmap is written after the data assessment and before the migration, and these 3 pages cover each end.
Data and AI assessment
The entity by entity read that produces the findings a roadmap puts in order.
Read about the data assessmentFinance transformation
The data and systems half of a programme, restarted from the model when the plan has stalled.
Read about restartsOneStream migrations
The route off HFM, BPC or TM1 onto OneStream (EPM software), which most roadmaps for a listed group include.
Read about migrations
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