Finance Transformation 20 Steps

Finance Transformation
www.millenniumconsulting.co.uk
20 Steps to Ensure
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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