During Q2/Q3 of 2020, Norman Broadbent has seen demand for Interim Finance Change and Transformation Professionals increase by 68%. A high proportion of the demand has been focused on those with expertise/experience of Finance Shared Service Centres, Finance ERP Systems implementation (across a broad range of systems ranging from Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle etc) and a broad range of Treasury Management Systems.
Many clients over the last three months having been looking to consolidate their accounting software systems and gain greater visibility across their Global and European operations. Due to the economic uncertainty there has been a greater demand on CFOs to produce increased levels of management information in real time to review and forecast more regularly. In many cases, this has not been easy due to a previous lack of investment in financial reporting systems.
Many CEOs have commented that following a strategic review of their organisation, they now need to establish a delivery team to implement the finance transformation and as such want to ensure they have complete ownership of the change programme. Our solution is to engage interim support from previous ‘big four’ consultants who have substantial finance change and transformation expertise on an interim basis. The key drivers for our clients are: ensuring knowledge transfer to their existing leadership team; driving cost savings; and the simplifying and automating of back office finance processes.
Norman Broadbent has been supporting clients in the delivery of finance transformation programmes and generating significant savings of over 60% percent by using Interim Executives compared to hiring in from the ‘big four’ management consulting firms. By using a blended approach to the delivery cycle, we believe our clients’ transformation programmes have a greater chance of success with experienced interims leading the change programme, alongside key members of their management team, who play an integral part in the delivery of the change agenda.
Many of our clients are anticipating implementing new ERP systems during 2021. A high proportion are planning to use software consultancies to aid installation and integration into the business. However, Norman Broadbent have also seen a significant increase in demand for finance ERP systems professionals who can map the current finance processes that ensure post implementation effective business as usual is achieved.
If you would like to discuss this article further, learn more about The Norman Broadbent Group, or discuss specific people or organisational challenges, please do not hesitate to contact in confidence Jonathan Stringer, Managing Director - Finance Officers Practice, via Jonathan.stringer@normanbroadbent.com or on 07483 015307