Finance Transformation 20 Steps

Finance Transformationwww.millenniumconsulting.co.uk

20 Steps to Ensure Finance Transformation

Project Success

Phil Keet

Head of Global Consulting

Millennium Consulting

1. Agree Project

• In light of changing business requirements/market conditions Board of Directors agrees need for new Finance System


2. Appoint Project Sponsor

• Appointed by the Board of Directors

• Responsible for project delivery

• Sets the tone of the project

• Someone of influence in the organisation

• Authority, respect and gravitas


3. Appoint Steering Committee

• Project Sponsor and other Senior Executives

• Regular meetings dictated by project size

• Project updates supplied by PM

• Authorise change requests

• Ensure project remains on schedule, within budget as per the Project Charter


4. Appoint Project Manager

• Project Manager appointed by Steering Committee

• Prior Financial Transformation experience

• Internal or external appointment

• Interim or permanent


5. Change Management• Liaise with users regarding deficiencies of existing

system and requirements of replacement

• Manage expectations regarding realistic future options

• Resistance to new system likely as users generally conservative and rarely welcome change

• Alter mind sets, encourage users to accept change positively

• Provide support and reassurance


6. Gather Requirements• Requirements Statement describes key

objectives and environment • Requirements assembled by BAs following

discussions with key users/stake-holders• Requirements Statement approved by

Steering Committee forms basis of system to be selected and designed

• Requirements gathering ensures solution meets user needs


7. Select Software

• Rigorous, thorough equal-handed process

• Selection consistent with organisation’s long-term interests

• Level playing field for software vendors

• No pre-conceived competing agenda or loyalty to particular product or vendor


8. Produce Project Charter

• Project Charter produced by PM

• Signed-off by Project Sponsor

• Statement of scope, role & responsibilities, outlines objectives, identifies primary stakeholders and defines PM’s authority


9. Assemble Project Team• Selected by Project Manager • Includes employees from impacted areas• External Specialist Consulting Partner• PM to manage internal and external resources • PM produces project plan to ensure delivery within

budget and time scales • PM works according to Project Management methodology• Documentation, managerial, communication,

organisational and project delivery skills • Project team: Project Manager, Business Analyst, System

Architect, Functional Consultant, Technical Consultant and Trainer


10. Produce Project Initiation Document (PID)• PM produces Project Initiation Document • PID provides Business Case, Terms of Reference,

Project Goals, Scope, Organisation, Communication Plan, Risk Register, Tolerances, Project Plan, Controls and Constraints

• Assembles key information required for project• Conveyed to stakeholders• Agreed and signed off by Project Sponsor • Forms basis for management and assessment of

project success


11. Produce Systems Design Document (SDD)

• SDD created by Solution Architect

• SDD defines architecture, components, individual modules, system interfaces and data

• Includes software, hardware, operating system, network, database and third party software applications


12. Purchase/Install Technology

• Computer hardware

• Operating system

• Database

• Network

• Software


13. Configure Software

• Prototype built according to business requirements

• Chart of accounts

• Process workflows

• Interfaces developed

• Reports developed


14. Conduct User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

• Prototype tested by users in test environment to ensure it fulfils their requirements

• Any issues/bugs identified referred to software vendor for resolution

• Importance of this process should not be underestimated


15. Train Users

• Thorough training on new system functionality is essential

• Insufficient knowledge may result in software being poorly utilised and may lead to inefficient working practices

• Training should take place off-site to ensure users completely focussed and avoid distractions of day jobs


16. Migrate Data

• Historic data from legacy system migrated to new system

• Level of detail to be migrated varies

• Detailed records should be reconciled between old and new systems to avoid discrepancies


17. Go-Live

• Plan go-live date

• Ensure sufficient expert resources available

• Cut-over involves processing transactions in new system whilst legacy system decommissioned and subsequently used for historic data interrogation


18. Provide Post Go-Live Support

• Go–live process rarely straightforward

• Users obliged to embrace new whilst relinquishing old system

• Problems do occur


19. Celebrate!

• Celebrate with project team and users

• Announce project success to organisation


20. Close Project

• Following go-live, project signed off as “closed/complete” by Steering Committee

• Disband project team

• Assign system to Business as Usual (BAU) team for future management and support


Conclusion• Finance system transformation can reflect corporate evolution• It can be a catalyst to deliver revenue growth• Board of Directors expects clarity, faster results and transparent

operations to drive growth and deliver profit • Finance can provide robust cost-control and risk management and

add value by creating synergies between accounting, commercial planning, cash management and forecasting

• Finance technology innovation can positively impact corporate performance

• Embracing change and effectively delivering it can play a key part in achieving further commercial success


Q&A


Thank you


Finance Transformation 20 Steps

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