Susie West

CEO

sharedserviceslink

Michael Shultz

Director Finance

Transformation

BlackLine

Presenting Your Speakers

Faria Nasser

Partner

Clearsulting

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Agenda

• Context

• Continuous Accounting – the BlackLine approach

• Clearsulting’s approach to finance efficiency

• Shared services versus centralized processes

• The shared services roadmap

• Common barriers

• Streamlining and creating process efficiency

• The 6 traits of successful shared services

• Q&A

Context

• Key objectives vary from company to company, but building a scalable, streamlined,

business-focused finance function is commonly found at the top of the C-Suite’s wish list.

• By transitioning to shared services, accounting processes become more agile and efficient

and deliver greater results.

• Furthermore, companies that have shared services in place are not only saving costs but

their efficient process delivery is adding greater value to the business.

• More and more companies are seeing the rewards that shared services offers, the

challenge is how to make the transition a real success.

Poll question

Oct 4th Oct 10thOct 19thOct 10th Nov 15th

Where are you on your shared services journey?

• Centralized finance function

• New to shared services but not standardized

• Shared services and standardized

• Mature shared services (GBS)

• Other

Poll question

Oct 4th Oct 10thOct 19thOct 10th Nov 15th

What is your annual invoice volume?

• Less than 100,000

• 100,000 - 200,000

• 200,000 - 500,000

• 500,000 – 1 million

• 1 Million +

“Rolling up our sleeves” to position the Finance SSC as a strategic business partner

About Clearsulting

• Founded in 2015 by former EY and PwC consultants

• Existing client profile is global, Fortune 500 organizations

• Big 4 experience and quality at a fraction of the cost

• Unique culture focused on creativity, enthusiasm, and collaborating with our clients

Scope of services:

‐ Shared services design / implementation‐ Organizational design‐ CAO / Controllership process improvement‐ O2C / P2P process improvement‐ Internal Audit / SOX‐ Robotics process automation

Clearsulting service offerings

11

Organizational transformation

Organizational strategy execution

► Process consolidation and centralization

► Shared services migration and optimization

► Center of Excellence development

► Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) enablement

► Financial reporting assessment & design

► Revenue recognition process transformation

Process improvement

► Procurement and payables process optimization

► Intercompany accounting transformation

► ERP and support system integration

► Reporting and data analysis tool implementation support

Technology enablement

► Accounting automation and improvement software

implementation

► Robotic Process Automation (RPA) implementation support

Organizational strategy & design

► Service delivery model selection (SSC, COE, BPO, etc.)

► Service delivery model business case development

► Financial statement close process (FSCP) optimization

► Revenue cycle process improvement

Controls optimization

► Internal and external audit support

► Business process controls re-engineering

► Business controls design and implementation

► SOX compliance and readiness

► Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) design and implementation

Why Clearsulting?

12

Our teams will be 100% dedicated throughout the course of the engagement. As a client, you can expect to have immediate access to our subject matter experts to get you the answer you need, when you need it.

Our bill rates are a fraction of the rates of the big firms in the industry. By remaining focused on limiting our business’s overhead, we’re able to offer and maintain reasonable bill rates, passing the savings onto our clients.

Our people have global experience working at some of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world. Our teams brings leading practice perspective on how leading organizations approach similar operational challenges. We bring proven methodologies and toolkits to the table, as well as the project and change management skills required to enable successful project execution.

Big 4 talent

Competitive bill

rates

Dedicated support

& greater

accessibility

Our teams are committed to challenging the typical consulting model. We bring fresh perspective and roll up our sleeves to tackle the challenge at hand. We subscribe to the idea that effective collaboration enables the delivery of cost-effective solutions.

Unique

business

partner &

culture

What is Shared Services?

13

“The key to Shared Services is treating what was once a corporate service like a whole new business.

This is achieved by duplicating the environment of an independent service business, including

customers, counting costs, and letting in the competition. Just as market competition improves a firm,

so will it improve your in-house services”

The concentration of functions, processes and like activities, centrally delivered to add value to the organization

through cost leadership, customer focus and process excellence

Journal of Business Strategy

Shared Services vs centralized processes

A true Shared Services model goes beyond centralization to incorporate best practices and

improve the quality of the service provided

14

Key Differentiators Shared ServicesCentralized

Operations

Internal service provider with own dedicated resources; aligned to support strategic business objectives

Organizationally and economically independent internal entity

Negotiation of performance expectations and pricing levels

Separation of responsibility (shared services) and accountability (business)

Continuous improvement targets embedded into service level agreements

Customer service is the ‘core business’

Full responsibility for cost & quality

Competitive cost and pricing structure

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Common barriers to an effective Finance SSC

15

Reactive instead of

proactive!Continuous improvement / lessons learned not considered!

Manual Processes!

Roles not defined

within team!

Inconsistent processes!

6 traits of successful shared service organizations:The close process

1) Automate tracking and reporting of accounting tasks required to be

completed on a periodic basis (monthly, quarterly, annually)

2) Enforce multiple levels of review to enable validation of completed tasks

3) Track and monitor key controls, including automated workflow and

electronic sign-off functionality

4) Reduce the number of redundant tasks by streamlining the individual

month-end close checklists

5) View real-time snapshots and a dashboard of completion status as the

period progresses, across the business

6) Consolidate the view of individual workloads and the status of the close

16

WELCOME TO CONTINUOUS ACCOUNTING

Continuous Accounting embeds automation, control, and period-

end tasks within day-to-day activities, allowing the rigid accounting

calendar to more closely mirror the broader business.

DAY 0 DAY 31

Almost Done

Overtime

Catch a Breather

Oh No!

DAY 0 DAY 31

Reduced

Close Workload

Shorter Close

Balanced Distribution of Work

Preparation for Upcoming Close

High-Volume

Analysis

Consolidation

Validation

Transaction

Automation

Analytics &

Benchmarking

Intercompany

Accounting

Flux

Analysis

Corrections

& Activity

Booking

High-Volume

Transaction

Analysis

Process &

Exception

Management

RULES &

BUSINESS LOGICANALYSIS

& REPORTS

TEMPLATES WORKFLOW

YOUR DATA SOFT CLOSE

Balance

Substantiation

Transaction

Matching

Account

Reconciliations

Consolidation

Integrity

Manager

Daily

Reconciliations

Journal

Entry

Variance

Analysis

Task

ManagementInsights

Enterprise-Class Security

Enhanced Reporting, Dashboards, Benchmarking, Analytics, and Insights

Unified, Private, and ERP-Agnostic Cloud Platform

Finance

Transformation

Accounting

Process Automation

Close Process

Management

Balance Sheet

Integrity

Intercompany

Hub

Smart

Close

CL

OU

D P

LA

TF

OR

MP

RO

DU

CT

SS

OL

UT

ION

S

Poll question

Oct 4th Oct 10thOct 19thOct 10th Nov 15th

What is your biggest struggle with account reconciliations?

- Standardization- Visibility into the process- Timeliness of completion - Overall quality of the reconciliation- Other

Effective use of BlackLine Tasks Manager can drive efficiencies within the SSC

24

Case study: BlackLine-enabled SSC improvement project

25

Project team was formed to design the future operating model, re-design processes to align with the new model, and implement technology

to support the model.

►Further automate and risk rank current BlackLine (+new policy and process) for account reconciliations and roll-out globally –

starting point to prepare team for future standardization

►Change SSC org structure from geography to line of business – redesign processes and data accordingly

►Standardize and document all monthly tasks being performed in the SSC and implement BlackLine tasks module to improve the

close and enable organization change

Project overview and objectives

The following value was delivered as part of the improvement program:

► Implemented standard finance processes spanning 4 Business Units and 60 plan locations

► Established a scalable and leading practice finance operating model

► Successful implementation of BlackLine for account reconciliation and tasks

Significantly decreased the total time to perform close and reconciliations (increased analysis)

Created global visibility over the close and reconciliation processes

Establish and standardize account reconciliation / close process and controls

Redesigned the close process and implemented tasks module to drive the close

► Enabled smooth transactions (2 acquisitions, 1 divestiture)

Our structured approach to implementation can be used as a “filter” to achieve centralization across business

Current State Future State

Misc. non-standardized tasks Structured process framework

Organized roles and

responsibilities

BlackLine tasks

Remove task?

Add task?

Change ownership?

Standardize task?

Balance workload differently?

Delegate differently?

Documented processes will be thoroughly explained in BlackLine, including key control descriptions

27

All documented processes thoroughly explained in

BlackLine.

Full key control descriptions (if applicable) for related

processes can also be imported.

Users have also defined detailed desk instructions for

each task.

BlackLine will provide real time dashboard to leadership outside of the SSC environment

28

Real-time executive dashboards track

task completion

SSC / Finance leadership has visibility into each task that is being performed within the SSC

This information can be utilized to drive monthly close meetings, drive employee performance

reviews, and SLAs / Metrics

Benefits of standardization in the Finance SSC include more than just cost savings due to labor arbitrage

• Enabling the development of common processes

• Better decision making and improved data accuracy, consistency and control

• Standardized reporting resulting in increased efficiency and higher quality

• Ability to compare and manage data more consistently across platforms

• Improved control structure and increased ability to respond to regulatory requirements

• Improved performance monitoring

• Acts as a strategic catalyst for change and provides a basis for continuous improvement. Subsequent changes are easier

to implement because of common back-office processes

• Ability to speak to suppliers and customers at regional level rather than local making effective use of purchasing power

with suppliers

• Increased efficiency in integrating acquisitions

• SSC’s can attain process excellence, focusing on consistent approaches and routine transaction processing for both

management and financial accounts. Local Finance can focus on value-add activities to support the business

29

SSC case study outcomes

30

Q&A

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Poll question

Oct 4th Oct 10thOct 19thOct 10th Nov 15thWould you like a free pass to our upcoming conferences?

• Indirect Tax Tech, November 15-17 London

• LATAM Shared Services Summit, February, Miami

• Shared Services Leaders Summit, March, London

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