Finance Process Transformation Case Study

CLIENT: A $1B national retailer

The challenge

After a significant prior ERP implementation that was not living up to expectations, we were asked to review the Finance area to reduce costs through process transformation, organization redesign and technology optimization.

Our approach

PwC Canada’s Retail Consulting Services conducted a detailed Work Activity Analysis and Non-value Add Analysis for all Finance process areas as well as a retail specific Finance benchmark and best practice assessment. A series of detailed opportunities and recommendations were identified. These were prioritized based on potential achievable benefits and resource constraints. Working with other functional areas (e.g., Merchandising, Store Ops, etc.) action plans were developed to improve data integrity issues that were impacting Finance.

An organizational and skills assessment was conducted within the Finance organization to identify skill deficiencies, silos of knowledge and sub-optimal spans of control.

The result

• Savings of 15% of the total Finance labor budget
• Significant non-labor savings (e.g., procurement card rebates, tax savings)
• Cleaner data to improve business analysis and business performance reporting
• Finance process flows and procedure documentation to assist in better training for new hires
• Improved management focus within the Finance organization