As a longtime, publicly held company, the client had established financial reporting processes that produced numbers that were well regarded by investors for their accuracy and consistent delivery.
Despite this high-quality output, in-depth interviews and analysis with stakeholders revealed that major monthly and quarterly reporting packages were prepared through disparate systems and disconnected processes. Reviewing final numbers before release was human-centric, requiring meetings, emails, and calls between multiple participants. Although some processes were nominally electronic—using Excel and other software, they were far from being fully automated. And most technical solutions were focused on the front end of the process rather than the close.
In organizational terms, it became clear that no single person or office fully owned the closing process. Instead, various stakeholders worked within silos that offered limited insight or connectivity to the overall goal. Settling on final numbers for release involved extensive double-checking and reconciliation between various participants.
This state of affairs might have continued indefinitely if the client’s CEO had not issued a simple, but challenging demand to his CFO and staff: Digitally transform their R2R systems and procedures to take five days out of the process. Faster reporting to Wall Street was a primary objective, along with reaffirming the client’s reputation as a technology leader.
An R2R process that was accurate and reliable but not fast enough for their standards
Before
After
Future
Replace aging applications that differed across divisions and subsidiaries
Reduce manual, disparate processes freeing up more resources for advanced analytics
Enable enhanced reporting and make it more widely available across the enterprise
Act with greater speed and agility to capture value in acquisitions
•
•
•
•
Company-wide
opportunities
Process hundreds of thousands of transactions per month with greater efficiency
Reduce 10,000+ manual journal entries per period
Decrease >3-week close
Shorten the >3-month annual budgeting cycle
Provide better support for a growing e-commerce business
Control rising finance function costs and derive greater value
Finance
opportunities
Reduce 10,000+ manual journal entries per period
Decrease >3-week close
Shorten the >3-month annual budgeting cycle
Provide better support for a growing e-commerce busines
Control rising finance function costs and derive greater value
•
•
•
•
•
•
Improve technical capabilities to keep pace with increased hiring needs
Reduce dependence on IT and tech resources for supporting and enabling continuous compliance with more than 800 collective bargaining agreements
Unify and automate workforce administration processes across the enterprise
Eliminate the need for employees to learn new systems and interfaces as they move from recruitment to training to managing benefit
•
•
•
•
HR
opportunities
Before
Future
After
Overall financial reporting processes now gain from better integration, communication, and data transparency.
But the real value goes beyond speed and automation. Stakeholders now think about the close process differently. They use and actively support new, more efficient processes. They also look for ways to better meet the needs of those outside the finance function who rely on their reports.
And instead of applying lots of new technology, the client is accomplishing this by creatively using what they already had—including technology from SAP and Workiva—and using it in a new more effective way.
Better processes mean faster, more agile reporting
Developed all the necessary processes to support a single, modernized digital platform serving the entire enterprise
Migrated 290,000 employees from legacy systems to Oracle Cloud
Increased insight-driven decision making across functions, driving performance and growth gains
•
•
•
Company-wide
success
Decreased balance sheet reconciliations
by 85%
Achieved a consolidated retail and
corporate close within a shortened period
Reduced the types of P&L statements from 100+ to 4
Reduced operations costs across the board
Enhanced availability of data-driven insights that help to capture maximum value during acquisitions
Achieved a consolidated retail and corporate close within a shortened period
Reduced the types of P&L statements from 100+ to 4
Reduced operations costs
across the board
Enhanced availability of data-driven insights that help to capture maximum value during acquisitions
•
•
•
•
•
Finance
successes
HR
successes
Deployed a custom application for union-rule processing enabling a single HCM platform to administer benefits to all employee populations under 800+ complex union agreements
Created a digital-first, digital anywhere experience resulting in higher employee engagement
Reduced new-hire onboarding time
•
•
•
Reduced new hire onboarding time
Streamlined and improved the process integration of new employees post-acquisition
Integrate processes and technology across the employee lifecycle from recruiting through compensation and performance
1/2
•
•
•
2/2
Success in accelerating R2R and the acceptance of new procedures and systems promises to redefine the role and reputation of finance within the organization.
Instead of being valued mainly as fixers whose hard work simply produced accurate reports, finance is becoming more focused on the needs of outside investors and internal stakeholders.
With more connected and transparent data inputs and less time spent on checking and reconciliation, the finance department is better positioned to provide forward-looking insights faster, thus improving morale and creating value.
The R2R transformation demonstrates what wide-ranging analysis, action, and automation can deliver. And other reporting areas and processes have taken notice. Examples of this include efforts now underway to streamline and accelerate order to cash; integrate and automate environmental, social, and governance reporting; and optimize payroll for efficiency.
The themes are consistent—analyze thoroughly, think outside of silos and collaborate, leverage and optimize value from digital technology, establish and empower accountability, and track and measure outcomes.
Continue to enhance analytics-driven planning and forecasting
Optimize the supply chain
•
•
Company-wide
vision
Achieve a continuous, virtual accounting close
Achieved a consolidated retail and corporate close within a shortened period
•
•
Finance
vision
HR
vision
Establish a continual feedback-and-improvement loop based on quarterly HR reports from the field and deployment of new capabilities
Migrate payroll, benefits, and absence management to Oracle cloud for 2023
Insource benefits administration
R2R as a model for continuing change
•
•
•
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
After
After
Future
1
2
3
4