Luceco plc findsfinancial closeefficiency and deliversaccurate reporting withOracle EPM Cloud

CLIENT:LOCATION:INDUSTRY:SOLUTION:

Luceco plcLondon, United KingdomManufacturingOracle EPM Cloud, Financial Consol idat ion and Close, Qubix Cloudbridge

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Luceco plc is a leading supplier andmanufacturer of high-quality LED lightingproducts and wiring accessories globally.Based in the United Kingdom, Luceco has anannual sales revenue of over £165m withdistribution centres in the UK, China, France,Spain, Germany, Mexico, South Africa and theUAE. However, this rapid international growthbrought increased complexity, risk and cost intheir financial close and reporting processes.Before this engagement, Luceco’s financialconsolidation, currency translations andintercompany balance processes were heavilydependent on manually intensive spreadsheetmodels. Similar to other Qubix clients, thisled to some loss of trust and confidence in theirnumbers. Luceco also faced the challenges ofmultiple source systems and multiple chart ofaccounts across geographies, which madeaccurate and timely management and statutoryreporting a challenging task. The finance teamrecognised its close and reporting processeswas too time-intensive, which prevented themfrom providing the analysis and decisionsupport value-add the business needed. “Our consolidations process relied upon multiplespreadsheet models which was manually-intensiveand time-consuming. Using Oracle EPM CloudConsolidation, we are able to reduce the time toconsolidate our numbers from 12 days to just 5days.” Di Stewart-Walker, Financial Accounting andSystems Integration Manager Luceco chose Qubix to help transform theirfinancial consolidation, close and reportingprocesses. We reviewed their current financesystems landscape, identified the priorityrequirements and agreed on the target businessoutcomes.

Challenges

Manual financial close processwith a high dependency on large,complex spreadsheet models.Disintegrated source systemsand multiple chart of accountsglobally made data consolidationtedious, resource intensive andexposed to potential errors.Rapid international growthrequired finance to produceincreasingly complex regulatoryreports and standards.Data trust and confidence issuesand the need to create a ‘goldensource’ of information sharedacross geographies.Difficulty producing statutoryand management reports in atimely and accurate manner.Lack of audit trail and user-based security.

Solution

Implementation of Oracle EPMCloud Financial Close (FCCS).Qubix Cloudbridge - DataIntegration and Master DataManagement tool.

Results

Reduced close cycle and theeffort required to producereports from 12 days to under 5days.Delivered end-to-end visibilityand control into the entire close,consolidation, data collectionand reporting activities.Ensured transparent reportingin data consolidation for cashflow, balance sheet and incomestatements.

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Results

Met regulatory reportingmandates and standardsincluding GAAP compliantfinancial statements.Dataload processes integratedwith source systems (includingEpicor and Sage ERP systems) toensure a golden source of truthacross geographies and businessunits.Enabled dynamic, real-timereporting with Excel Smart Viewfunctionality.Streamlined close processeswith guided user taskassignments and approvalworkflows.Provided a detailed audit trailand security access controls forauditors.

We recommended Oracle EPM CloudConsolidation and Close (formerly FCCS) as thebest solution to support their reporting needswith consolidated numbers. Based on thesediscussions, a project plan was designed to meetLuceco’s budget and scope. In collaboration withthe Luceco finance team, our expert consultingteam developed and deployed a cloud-based,modern financial close and reporting solutionthat integrates with Luceco’s source systems,including integrating data from the Epicor andSage ERP platforms. Luceco adopted QubixCloudbridge to automate data loadprocesses between its finance applications. “Oracle EPM Cloud Consolidation checked all theboxes for us. We wanted a comprehensiveconsolidations platform that integrated cash flow,journal adjustments and intercompany eliminations.Dynamic reporting from Excel-based Smart Viewwas also an added bonus.” Di Stewart-Walker, Financial Accounting andSystems Integration Manager The benefits of deploying the Oracle EPM CloudClose and Consolidation solution weretransformative. A formerly 2-week long closingprocess now takes under 5 days, freeing upcrucial time and resources for analysis anddecision support. Moreover, automatingcurrency translations and intercompanyeliminations reduced this activity from 3-4 daysto less than an hour with full data consolidationin only 10 minutes. We can get our consolidated numbers in only 10minutes – no more VLOOKUPS for each geography,back-and-forth email chains and spreadsheetversion issues. Di Stewart-Walker, Financial Accounting andSystems Integration Manager

The solution has created a 70% time-efficiencysaving across the entire finance function. Siloeddata and processes across geographies are gone,creating a single ‘golden source’ of truth forconfident and real-time reporting acrossgeographies. Using approval workflows and usertask assignments, Luceco ensured end-to-endvisibility and control in their close process. Thesolution provides consolidated reportingdisclosures for GAAP compliant financialstatements as well as robust audit trails andcontrols for auditors. Luceco is now equippedwith a digital financial close that has saved timeand delivered superior financial control. Case study continues on the next page.

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“The Qubix team was fantastic. Their consultants knew the product inside-out, understood our business requirements and were willing to go the extra mile to ensure the project was

successful. Qubix Cloudbridge also provided real value to the engagement by reducing on-going data integration and management task times by at least 25%.”

Di Stewart-Walker, Financial Accounting and Systems Integration Manager

About The Qubix Group: The Qubix Group is one of the largest independent Oracle technology consultancies in theUnited Kingdom with offices in the United States, Australia, Slovenia and India. Weprovide end-to-end services that support Enterprise Resource Planning, EnterprisePerformance Management and Analytics transformation. Qubix designs and implementssolutions that reduce cost and enable new agile ways of working for our clients.

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Luceco plc partners with The Qubix Group to deliver theirfinancial consolidation and close solution

Explore how Qubix helped other clients achieve their finance transformation objectives:www.qubix.com/clients

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Driver-based Planning & Budgeting

Strategic Workforce Planning

Capital Expense Planning

Project Financial Planning

Financial Close Automation

Account Reconciliation

Cash Flow Forecasting

Franchise / Group Reporting

Board & Management Reporting

Regulatory Reporting (GAAP / IFRS)

Cost Allocations

Customer Profitability

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