Creating Process Flows to Streamline Year End Close
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Having a well documented close process can help companies increase efficiencies during the close cycle. Process flows can be leveraged to ensure consistency and to identify redundancies within the close. We will examine the benefits that can be gained through well documented process and how to create a comprehensive process flow. Speaker: Jessica Gulliver, Senior Consultant, MindStream Analytics Presentation delivered at ProformaTECH 2014 - http://www.proformatech.com Track: Change Anticipation & Readiness | Session: 5
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Creating Process Flows to Streamline Year End Close
- 1. Creating Process Flows to Streamline Year End Close Jessica Gulliver Senior HFM Consultant, MindStream Analytics
- 2. Agenda • Discuss year-end close difficulties • Understand benefits of process documentation • Creating valuable straight forward process flows • Q&A 2 © 2014 Proformative
- 3. Year-end Close Difficulties 3 © 2014 Proformative
- 4. Year-end Close Difficulties 4 © 2014 Proformative
- 5. Year-end Close Difficulties 5 © 2014 Proformative
- 6. Year-end Close Difficulties 6 © 2014 Proformative
- 7. Year-end Close Difficulties 7 © 2014 Proformative
- 8. Summarize difficulties • Inconsistency • Understanding Responsibilities • Redundancy • Timing of Task Completion • Notification of Task Completion 8 © 2014 Proformative
- 9. Benefits of Process Documentation 9 © 2014 Proformative
- 10. Benefits of Process Documentation 10 © 2014 Proformative
- 11. Benefits of Process Documentation 11 © 2014 Proformative
- 12. Benefits of Process Documentation 12 © 2014 Proformative
- 13. Summarize Benefits • Open and Clear Business Communication • Efficient Training • Increased Control and Consistency • Increased Operational Effectiveness © 2014 Proformative
- 14. Creating a Process Flow • Steps: 1. 2. Interview key personnel to understand tasks impacting the process 3. Create a draft version of the diagram 4. Review the diagram with key personnel, making refinements 5. Create final version of the diagram 6. 14 Perform an assessment to determine which processes to document Share process flow diagram with all impacted personnel © 2014 Proformative
- 15. Creating a Process Flow Basic Process Flow 15 © 2014 Proformative Cross-Functional Process Flow
- 16. Creating a Process Flow 16 © 2014 Proformative
- 17. Illustrate Flow Creation • International and Domestic General Ledgers submitted to corporate (Day 3) • International data translated into Reporting currency by Corporate Accounting (Day 4) • International and Domestic General Ledger is consolidated (Day 5) • Intercompany eliminations processed by Corporate Accounting (Day 7) • Consolidated Income Statement and Balance Sheet created (Day 8) 17 © 2014 Proformative
- 18. Process Flow © 2014 Proformative
- 19. Key Summary Year End Difficulties Benefits Gained • Inconsistency • Open and Clear Business Communication • Understanding Responsibilities • Redundancy • Timing of Task Completion • Notification of Task Completion © 2014 Proformative • Efficient Training • Increased Control and Consistency • Increased Operational Effectiveness
- 20. Contact Information MindStream Analytics www.mindstreamanalytics.com • Jessica Gulliver (Senior HFM Consultant) jgulliver@mindstreamanalytics.com • Seth Landau (EVP, Consulting Services) slandau@mindstreamanalytics.com • Mark Gregoire (EVP, Sales & Marketing) mgregoire@mindstreamanalytics.com • Alex Ladd (Senior Partner) aladd@mindstreamanalytics.com 20 © 2014 Proformative
- 21. Thank You For Attending Creating Process Flows to Streamline Year End Close
Editor's Notes
- Remove the part about MSA. I can speak to who I am as a professional just don’t have it on paper. Talk to it. 30-45 sec.
- Inconsistency can slow down and cause major issues during the close process. The form that inconsistency takes can vary depending on the organization. Frequently companies face consistency issues through the following:In a give close cycle multiple people perform the same or similar task utilizing different methodologyEach close cycle the tasks is assessed and performed, without guarantee that the approach is consistent with previous filingsEmployee change over may result in no one within the organization understanding the “standard” process
- Assignment of responsibility.Delays during the close process can occur when employees do not understand what they are responsible for. This can also cause issues when they don’t understand how the work that they are completing fits into the larger picture.
- RedundancyWithout a full comprehensive understanding on the steps taken to complete the year-end close multiple people can be attempting to complete the same task. Even when utilizing the same methodology this redundancy should be understood to ensure that no alternative approaches are available to help shorten the close cycle.
- Timing of Task CompletionIn general the same steps need to be completed during every close cycle. Many of these tasks build off of previous tasks which dictate the order in which the tasks are completed. However, not all tasks have these interdependencies. Some tasks can be done at different points of the cycle when the work load may be less, therefore, spreading the work load and providing the time needed to complete the task accurately.
- Notification of Task Completion
- Business Communication – Highly functioning business has a very clear understanding of what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to do it and what is the exact role of every team member. Clear communication of the operational processes is critical to facilitate a smooth functioning of a team. Process modeling offers a common unified language and methodology for communicating processes and information about processes and decision rules.Minimizes potential danger of loss of staff resulting in loss of business process knowledgeTurns the team's experience and "tribal knowledge" into documented processes.
- Provide training guide – Unboarding new staff can always be challenging especially if staff joins during the close cycle. Documentation can be ideal for training of new people and rapid knowledge transfer because with a thoroughly documented process any new team member can be very quickly trained on what they have to do in any situation that they may face.
- Control and consistency – Organizations and companies that succeed are ones that ensure their business processes and rules are well designed and that they are consistently applied the same way every single time.Execute process in consistent manner because instead of relying on people to remember to do the right thing the documented process can be given to the business users. Make better decisions because guesswork is eliminated as business users can have the documented business rules in front of them.Complete regulatory compliance by ensuring that the documented processes follow the company guidelines and legal regulations.
- Operational effectiveness – In today’s business environment everyone wants to ensure that they are achieving the best possible results with the resources available to them. There is no room for inefficiencies and wastage. Helps spot needed improvements and reduce process cycle time.It encourages a mind-set of continually optimizing business critical processes to incrementally improve operational efficiencies.Process analysis enables better resource utilization.