Statutory consolidation: how to get a head start
This transformation affected all management teams, including the department responsible for consolidation of statutes and financial publication. Those responsible for Corporate Performance Management (CPM) therefore strive to equip themselves with a single performance management solution to meet all the needs of the finance function. This solution must be ultra-reliable, scalable and long-lasting. In the field of statutory consolidation, the stakes are indeed particularly high (auditor, market publication, etc.) and there are many expectations (reliability, traceability, flexibility). The needs of finance departments in particular are changing with charters and strategic choices of organizations changing their ERPs.
Searching for a unique solution
Companies sometimes see it as a kind of Holy Grail, this unique software with ultra-full functional coverage. But such a tool does exist, Vincent Salmon advances. for CCH’s vice president of operations for France®Tagetik (a company belonging to the Wolters Kluwer software publishing group): ” The Software traditional CPM it’s not enough anymore.”
Regardless of whether it works within an SME, an ETI, or an international group, its clients and corporate finance players are also convinced: every organization must adopt a full performance management system. ” Warning “Vincent Salmon points out,” this system must be specifically designed for finance and cover all financial processes such as consolidation and financial closing, budgeting and planning, reporting and publishing (disclosure management) and even profitability analysis and compliance.. »
Vincent Salmon points to different issues depending on the groups: “ The challenges for finance departments of groups with multiple subsidiaries in the EMEA, APAC and America zones are not the same. a French family group whose consolidated accounts are published exclusively for banks. “.
The complexity and volume of intercompany transactions in a multinational company creates a significant workload when preparing consolidated accounts, forcing teams to prioritize data production at the expense of time spent on analysis. For Vincent Salmon, ” The topic of intercos is a very sensitive one “. Potential inaccuracies in accounts or reports, improper consideration of exchange risks, can have serious consequences, not to mention the presence of regulatory risk. But there is another risk, he warns: an inefficiency that can be costly, especially in terms of employee retention “. In the tight labor market of 2022, continuing to delegate time-consuming tasks without adding value to employees could have serious consequences.
Another point that Vincent Salmon insists on: tracking data from upload to publication. Traceability must be complete with accurate audit logs. In the CCH Tagetic solution developed by Wolters Kluwer, every change to the data is detailed. ” Our historical clients Europ Assistance, Mersen, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise or Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations know that… and, for example, allows you to answer the auditor’s question very quickly “.
The importance of RResearch and Development in light of new challenges
For international organizations, the implementation of Pillar 2, which aims to determine the minimum taxation of multinational groups, requires that these groups prepare now. Here too vigilance is required on the tool side and integration with existing technologies.
In addition, a wave of change is expected in finance departments equipped with old technologies. This applies to SAP BFC, whose end-of-life is planned for 2027. But as we know, about 80% of large French companies work with these tools. For Vincent Salmon, ” French companies must act. 4 years is ultimately a short enough time to change the statutory consolidation instrument.. It is even a critical topic “.
The need to constantly improve tools implies first-class responsiveness. This is possible only by relying on a solid Research and Development department. CCH Tagetik has strong experience in legal consolidation. The very close relationship between the sales teams and the R&D department located in Europe allows us to respond flexibly to market and customer requirements. Vincent Salmon defines: “It’s necessary both with what’s happening at the ESG level and with these new rules of the game.Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development especially the CBCR and Pillar 2. This is particularly true for the French market with its peculiarities in terms of statutory consolidation. ».
CCH Tagetik meets the challenges of the largest groups in many industries. ” We have an international scale that allows us to work with large groups such as Honda and Toyota. Today, approximately 30% of CAC 40 companies use our tools either in one of their departments or globally. For companies working with multiple entities, our CCH Tagetic solution makes it easy to manage the entire consolidation process by automating the elimination of intra-group transactions. reciprocal and non-reciprocal, capital adjustments, currency conversion, multi-regulation requirements, etc. “.
These companies have significant security needs; they must meet the requirements of internal and external audit; and they have high performance and productivity requirements. ” We support them in simplifying their consolidation tools and processes and speeding up the production of reliable reports. Flexibility and responsiveness are part of our DNA.”
Cloud or local
Even as the cloud has taken hold in many companies, some are choosing to stay basically. For these companies, it is important that solutions are available without cut-price solutions. Here again, Wolters Kluwer’s software is off to a good start. “With CCH Tagetik, we chose to make the same improvements in the native version. So, regardless of the preferred deployment of the customer’s IT strategy, CCH Tagetic always offers one and the same solution complete and unified, without losing any functionality, without making any compromises. »
For Vincent Salmon: ” There are men and women behind the instruments. “The role of CCH Tagetik legal consolidation solutions is to make their lives easier and safer.”
