FinanceTransformation

Consulting offerings

After stepping up to help their organizations steer through one of the toughest business environments in memory, many leading finance teams are starting a new conversation. They’re looking for ways to keep the momentum going. The relentless focus on containing costs and maintaining liquidity has left many businesses leaner and meaner than ever before, and now they’re considering growth again – cautiously. How can finance take the fight into an increasingly growth-oriented environment while keeping costs at bay?

Finance Transformation is one approach that has paid off for many finance organizations, allowing them to drive business performance and shareholder value by improving their operational capabilities. Getting it right requires linking the broader business strategy to the finance strategy, as well as bringing technology into alignment with the business. Which is exactly why companies trust Deloitte to help them with their biggest finance transformation projects. Learn more about Finance Transformation.

What we offer

 Game on

For many finance teams, the fight begins at their own office doors. They performed admirably in a pinch, but they’re far less effective and efficient than they should be – struggling under the weight of tangled processes that no longer make sense, technologies that have accumulated virtually unchecked for years and an army of finance professionals caught in between.

Finance Transformation is one demonstrated way for finance organizations to regain their footing for growth and return to what made them great in the first place. But it’s a big job – usually bigger than anyone expects and almost certain to spread into parts of the business that no one can anticipate. If you’re considering taking on a Finance Transformation effort, it’s time to put on your game face.

Bottom-line benefits

• Sustainable cost reduction
• More efficient processes
• Increased technology effectiveness
• Faster access to the right information
• Improved business partnering capabilities

How to create more value now

We’ve helped finance organizations at some of the largest, most successful companies in the world deliver more value from their finance transformation initiatives. Here are a few things we’ve learned along the way.

1. Make the case. Whether it offers a detailed view of your plan or operates at a very high level, a business case for any finance transformation initiative is indispensable. Not only does it force the organization to set the right priorities from the start, it can be a great tool to have when you inevitably run into pushback.
2. Don’t take a part-time approach. While there may be a place for team members who spend only part of their time on transformation, there has to be a core group of professionals solely dedicated to seeing the initiative through.
3. Demand sponsorship. Finance Transformation efforts invariably ruffle some feathers. That’s when the strong support of a high-level executive sponsor is required. Make sure you have that in place before moving ahead with any part of your plan.
4. Plan for bad weather. Finance Transformation initiatives are bumpy affairs by nature. While it’s hard to predict which obstacles you’ll encounter, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a plan for what happens when they appear. Some transformation leaders have even created toolkits, complete with documents and role-playing scenarios, to help their team members get through a tough spot.
5. Get all the cards out on the table. In Finance Transformation initiatives, we believe that it’s most effective to take a transparent approach – make sure every major stakeholder has a clear understanding of what you’re trying to do. Just as important, make sure they put their cards on the table as well. Because sooner or later, their issues and concerns will surface. Better to handle them from the start.

How we can help

Many finance transformation leaders report that they build their approach from scratch, making it up as they go along. There’s no such thing as a transformation playbook, they say. While it’s true that each organization has different needs, it’s also true that transformation projects across many industries and companies share many of the same challenges. Deloitte’s finance transformation practice is recognized as a global leader, known equally for insights into the challenges of finance and for our mastery of the technology required to bring about change.

Here are some of the services we offer:

• Business case development
• Transformation strategy
• Team development
• Technology strategy and implementation
• Project design
• PMO development, implementation and provision

Attachments

Spotlight

Gartner rates Deloitte the global leader in Finance Transformation Consulting Services