article
*This article was first published in Milestone Magazine, in the April 2021 Issue,
along with the profile of Karen Abramson, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. In the article she speaks not only about her journey within the Wolters Kluwer organization, from the Health DIvision to Tax & Accounting, but also about some recent innovative solutions and how the entire team managed to help customers navigate the new challenges, during the pandemic.
The rise of unified Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software solutions, based on Integrated Financial Data Models, has been steep in the last years. The anticipated benefits were to allow corporations to unify not only actual performance measurement with performance forecasts and predictive views, but also high-level decision making needs with detailed analysis and granular views of performance triggers.
Wolters Kluwer and its CCH Tagetik expert solution has promised those benefits to its customers a few years ago – how has the CPM vendor delivered? are its customers seeing tangible improvements in performance measurement and management attributable to technology innovations?
We hope to answer those questions from our experience in designing, configuring and rolling-out CPM processes and software solutions, one of the many being CCH Tagetik.
“I want all this covered by one single technology, in the cloud, integrated with my ERPs and my Business Intelligence platform”.
“I would like to plan my costs by category, each with own drivers, using as little data input as possible and as many driver- based calculations as possible”
“I want to plan sales by product and channel, using the result of an embedded sales price calculation engine and a bottom- up collection of sales volumes”
“Oh yes, and I want to plan Projects too and Capital Expenditure, and Cash Flows by drivers with an automatically calculated “Balance Sheet”
“And while I am at it, I would like to extract Actual data from my ERPs and calculate variances with “due-to” explanations”
“Finally, I want to consolidate the whole lot, produce analytic management reports as well as my IFRS-compliant external reports with all notes”
– those are the requirements Offices of Finance have today.
– then Information technology comes and says:
“I want all this covered by one single technology, in the cloud, integrated with my ERPs and my Business Intelligence platform”.
Back when the solution was conceived, CCH Tagetik was covering one need of the Office of Finance: the consolidation – and Satriun was there to design and configure such solutions. In time, the architecture and product capabilities evolved to reach one of the most complete vision for the Office of Finance – with the ability to execute it.
The most important innovation that unlocked the door to detailed planning, budgeting and analytical accounting has been the Analytical Information Hub addition to the platform. It basically opened the doors to cover large volumes of data intake, data cleaning and enhancements, very granular calculations with as many analytical dimensions as wished.
Coupled with the latest in-memory database technologies or leveraging pull-connections of Business Intelligence solutions, CCH Tagetik became in the last years one of the products that we at Satriun love designing and configuring for our clients.
Today, most of our CCH Tagetik projects cover at least financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and consolidation, based on one Integrated Financial Data Model, a coherent workflow and intelligence to automate calculations or allow driver-based calculations.
On top of such needs, many of our customers add to the platform dedicated but integrated modules for specific regulatory compliance (i.e. Lease Accounting), Account Reconciliation, Disclosure Management, etc.
Our conclusion is that Wolters Kluwer with its CCH Tagetik expert solution
is one of the very few CPM software vendors that has kept the unified Corporate Performance Management promise – with high ability to execute proven by many successful deployments at corporations worldwide.
Posted by
Casper van Leeuwen
Posted on
19.July.2021
Posted in
CCH Tagetik
Breaking through the status quo by offering a cutting-edge Power BI connector for CCH® Tagetik
cpmVision offers a Power BI connection for CCH® Tagetik with the same powerful embedded financial intelligence that CCH® Tagetik users have grown accustomed to. All installations of CCH® Tagetik are compatible, on premise and cloud with for example SAP HANA. No longer do you have to make concessions when using financial dashboards and reports through Power BI. The financial intelligence isn’t necessarily just for the finance department, but parts of the insights in Power BI can be shared within your organisation as well.
On the fly insights in your financial statements. Standardized and completely built in Power BI.
Keep the same, reliable insights from time to time. Power BI adjusts to Tagetik configuration.
Static data becomes interactive data – not just on your computer but on all devices. IBCS certified.
Recognized CPM experts
Market penetration and reputation
Ability to execute
Completeness of vision
Satriun’s advice is independent
We have a detailed understanding of the software of our Technology Partners and we have a good, close working relationship with them. Our advice is however independent. We have made a deliberate choice not to sell licences as that could leave us open to other considerations, whereas Satriun is all about looking to see what your organization really needs and being able to provide impartial advice.
News
Rob Fenne is the person responsible for ensuring Randstad’s financial reporting is reliable and on time – and that includes maintaining and updating their reporting systems. When it was time for Randstad to find a new and improved consolidation system, Rob was fearless in choosing the best tech and the best implementation partner. He chose lesser known brands over the some big names. And several years down the track, Randstad is still reaping the rewards. Here are 5 invaluable insights Rob shared with us on the call…
1. Functionality over familiarity
When choosing the new tech for Randstad’s reporting system, Rob kept a laser sharp focus on the functionality of the software. This led him to choose a lesser-known independent brand over some big players. His savvy approach led to impressive results. The number of days to close went from 10 days to 3 or 4. The new tech’s process cockpit delivered transparency in the closing process like never before. And the greatly improved accuracy of the software meant significant time savings. No more time spent fixing errors!
2. Getting the best out of tech benefits the whole organization
The above benefits mean that Rob’s team now has more time to focus on other value adding work. This has a positive impact on the entire organization. His team are now able to channel more support into operating companies, to continuously improve functionality and ensure the high performance of Randstad’s accounting systems.
3. “Consolidation in itself isn’t too exciting…”
So there it is. Rob said it himself. Even an expert leader like Rob inferred that consolidation doesn’t make his heart pound. Consolidation is something that needs to be done and done well, so that the other more exciting work can be attended to. Another reason to embrace the right tech.
4. Satriun “spoke our language, really understands issues in consolidation”
Choosing the tech is just the first step. It’s how it’s implemented that makes the difference. The people, policies and processes need to understand and embrace the tech for it to fully deliver. The implementation phase is all about people and that means you need a partner that speaks your language. That’s exactly why Rob chose Satriun, “they spoke our language and really understand the issues in consolidation”. Satriun delivered the project on time and within budget, leaving Rob “quite happy”.
5. Alignment and embracing talent at all levels is essential for roadmap success
Tech is moving fast and keeping an eye on the future is essential. Rob talked us through Randstad’s roadmap for the future, “Finance Forward”. He shared two pearls of wisdom for others looking to embark on a similar journey. Rob emphasized the importance of consensus. He invested a lot of time and energy in making sure that all CFO’s of the large operating companies were aligned. He also said that it’s important to make use of talents at all levels of the organization, highlighting the fresh perspectives of young talent.
And on that positive note, our call was done! Our thanks to Rob Fenne for his inspiration and insights.
Listen to our Calling Corporates podcast! Every couple of weeks we upload new interviews.
Posted by
Jeroen Vinke
Posted on
15.June.2021
Posted in
Cash Flow
