Finance & Controlling
Controlling that spends less time on reconciliation.
In many organisations, planning, forecasting and closing take more time for gathering figures than for analysing them. We start with the processes and build a system from them where it pays off.
Planning and forecasting
A planning process that starts from scratch every year ties up exactly the people who are supposed to be steering. We put the process in order: who delivers what by when, at which level planning takes place, which assumptions apply to everyone.
The forecast then becomes a roll-forward of the plan rather than a second project every quarter. Where it works, we plan driver-based: volumes, prices and cost rates are planned, and the result is calculated from them.
Year-end close procedures
In the close, every day counts. We map the sequence, from the actuals cut-off through accruals and reconciliations to the report, and look for the points where people wait, chase up information or enter data twice.
Often the biggest gain lies in a sequence that nobody has questioned for years.
Cost transparency
Costs become manageable once it is clear where they arise and who is responsible for them. That takes a cost centre structure that fits the organisation, allocations that can be traced, and reports that can be drilled down to the individual posting.
An allocation that only one person can explain is a risk for the close.
Management KPIs
A few KPIs that everyone understands the same way steer better than a report nobody reads to the end. Together with you, we define which figures management needs, how they are calculated and which source they come from.
Only once the definition is in place is the dashboard worth building.
Efficiency programmes
An efficiency programme is only as good as its measurement. We record the process before the change in hours and euros, and afterwards measure again using the same method.
The result is a figure that controlling itself can stand behind, not an estimate from a project presentation. The starting point for this is the Efficiency Check.
From process to system
Not every process needs a new system. But where files go back and forth between departments, deadlines are tracked by email and plan and actuals sit in different places, we build the planning in SAP Analytics Cloud.
What that looks like, from the planning input form to the Monte Carlo simulation, is shown on the SAP Analytics Cloud page.
Where our benchmark comes from
Our benchmark comes from a DAX-listed automotive group: planning, year-end closes and efficiency programmes at group level. How a local solution there became a planning system for the whole group is described in the reference project.
Questions
Questions from controlling
How do we get from inconsistent Excel data to central reporting?
First through the definitions: which KPI is calculated how, and which source applies. The data then moves into a shared model that all reports read from, and Excel can remain as an input. The step is less a question of technology than of agreement between departments. More detail in the article on the Single Point of Truth.
How does workforce deployment planning become clear and manageable?
By keeping deployment and costs in the same model: who is committed to which project in which period, and what that means for personnel costs. Bottlenecks and free capacity then become visible while there is still time to re-plan. In SAP Analytics Cloud this is one of the five building blocks.
What does Single Point of Truth mean in controlling?
Every KPI has exactly one valid source and one definition that all departments refer to. The discussion then shifts from which figure is right to what it means. Technically, this usually rests on a shared data model for plan and actuals.
What is xP&A and what does controlling gain from it?
xP&A stands for Extended Planning and Analysis: financial planning and the operational plans such as sales, personnel or capital expenditure run in one shared model. Controlling therefore receives the departments' volumes and assumptions directly, instead of translating them into euros and reconciling them afterwards. A variance can thus be traced back to its operational cause.
What is driver-based planning?
You plan the quantities that cause a result, such as volumes, prices, person-days or cost rates. Revenue and costs are calculated from them by formulas in the model. If an assumption changes, the result follows automatically, and that is exactly the prerequisite for simulations.
How can the forecast be automated?
In three stages: actuals are taken over instead of copied, rules project the rest of the year from the drivers, and a statistical proposal fills the fields that a planner then only reviews. In SAP Analytics Cloud this is done by Data Actions and Smart Predict, triggered for example by the planning calendar. In the end, a person decides on the value.
How do you shorten planning cycles in controlling?
By tackling the waiting time between the steps rather than the steps themselves: files that are collected, merged and sent back, and deadlines chased by email. Inputs with validation rules, a shared calendar and a forecast that rolls the plan forward address exactly that. How much it gains you is measured by the Efficiency Check on your own processes.
Is external controlling consulting worthwhile for mid-sized companies (the German Mittelstand)?
When a process has run the same way for years and nobody internally has the time to question it. An outside view finds the loops everyone has got used to. What matters is that the consulting measures what it delivers against your figures; that is why we start with the Efficiency Check and only then name scope and price.
Where does your controlling lose the most time today? One conversation is enough for an initial assessment.