Process Improvement

From complexity to clarity: Transforming financial reporting for a multi-brand enterprise

Client

Fortune 50 multinational food, beverage, snack corporation

Industry

Consumer packaged goods

  • Report Standardization
  • Financial System Integration
  • Data Validation
  • Process Mapping and Documentation
  • User Acceptance Testing
  • Training and Change Management

The Challenge: Achieving brand-level financial clarity

A global consumer goods company with a portfolio of 25+ leading brands embarked on a large-scale transformation initiative to implement brand-level P&Ls across their business. This shift was critical for enhancing financial visibility, driving strategic decision-making, and aligning resources with performance insights at the individual brand level. However, the initiative presented complex challenges:

  • Business unit alignment: Coordinating financial reporting structures across multiple business units, each operating under different frameworks and financial processes.
  • ERP system integration: Consolidating data from multiple ERP systems, including SAP, Oracle, Epicor, and Movex, to ensure accurate and consistent reporting.
  • Regulatory and compliance considerations: Meeting financial reporting standards while restructuring financial data.
  • Aggressive timeline: With a firm deadline, the Assistant Controller and PMO needed strong project management support to ensure timely execution and mitigate risks.

The Solution: Driving efficiency and alignment

Understanding the complexities of the transformation, our firm deployed an experienced project management professional with deep expertise in financial reporting, ERP system integrations, and process optimization. This professional served as a critical resource, ensuring alignment, transparency, and efficiency throughout the initiative.

Project leadership and execution:

  • Developed and maintained detailed tracking mechanisms for outstanding questions, approvals, and workstreams across multiple business units and ERP systems.
  • Created an executive-level project overview and structured project plans to align with corporate objectives and leadership expectations.
  • Led key project management initiatives, allowing the Assistant Controller and PMO to focus on high-level strategic priorities.

Financial system integration and process optimization:

  • Established a consistent product hierarchy structure to facilitate SAP brand reporting realignment across reporting units.
  • Addressed technical integration challenges, ensuring seamless data flow and accurate financial consolidation across ERP platforms.
  • Managed critical workstreams, including user acceptance testing (UAT), impairment testing revisions, and the phased integration of additional ERP systems.

Stakeholder engagement and strategic communication:

  • Provided structured reporting and strategic presentations to key stakeholders, including the CFO, Assistant CFO, and IT leadership, ensuring ongoing transparency and decision-making support.
  • Served as a liaison between finance, IT, and operational teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration to drive project success.

The Impact: A foundation for long-term success

Our professional leveraged project management expertise, financial systems knowledge, and cross-functional coordination skills to play an instrumental role in keeping the client on track for their brand-level P&L implementation. Key outcomes included:

  • Enhanced financial visibility: Streamlined reporting structures and improved financial clarity across the organization.
  • Efficient ERP integration: Addressed system complexities, ensuring accurate and reliable financial data consolidation.
  • Stronger strategic execution: Provided leadership with the insights and structure needed to make informed decisions and drive the transformation forward.
  • Operational readiness: Enabled a scalable, transparent, and efficient financial reporting process to position the organization for long-term success.

Our ability to seamlessly integrate with the client’s team, anticipate challenges, and provide strategic problem-solving ensured that this transformation not only met its ambitious deadline but also delivered sustainable long-term value.

What the client said

“Siegfried professionals have outstanding chemistry and communication skills. They quickly build rapport with stakeholders and have a special way of connecting with others. They also work and lead with little to no guidance and take projects and run with them, which is exactly what our team needs. One of the professionals I’ve been working with asks the right questions and likes to listen to others to gather information and then share his opinion. All Siegfried professionals I’ve worked with are extremely ambitious and confident in their ability to take on complex tasks and maintain poise and professionalism through it all.”

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