CASE STUDIES: GL Associates provides the right formula to solve accounting crisis
The post-merger company found itself with over 40 separate general ledger databases, one each for its various plants, divisions and corporate entities.
The general ledgers used different Charts of Accounts (COAs) operated on different software products that ran on diverse hardware platforms scattered across the country. Further complicating the situation, the corporate ledger interfaced to yet another software product that provided consolidation and corporate reporting.
Divisional summary data entry into the consolidated ledger was time consuming. Last minute budget changes and adjusting entries resulted in significant discrepancies between plant/divisional, corporate and consolidated ledgers.
Frequent business unit restructuring made ledger maintenance extremely difficult. Month-end general ledger runs took many hours with out-of-balance conditions frequently occurring. The various COAs not only were incompatible but also were applied inconsistently and could not adequately support management reporting and financial analysis.
GL Associates first performed a two-week study to determine the best solution. We recommended the design of a uniform COA and the implementation of a single, integrated general ledger database using CA's Masterpiece for both general ledger maintenance and reporting. Each operating entity, using its local terminals, could interact with its part of the total general ledger database.
The design phase that included pro-forma reports, the new COA and reporting structures took three months. System implementation with all operating units was completed over 18 months. Every phase of the project was completed on time and within budget.
We also were responsible for system documentation and user training. Turnover was completely successful with no operating problems experienced by the many groups assuming ledger responsibility.
With our proprietary software tools, COA maintenance on organization changes turned into a minor task. Manual entries of divisional summary data and discrepancies between divisional and corporate reports were eliminated.
This combination of a report-oriented COA, new relationship structures, effective use of summary accounts and the elimination of separate consolidation systems achieved dramatic reductions in the time needed to produce end of month closings and reports. In one instance, the time was reduced from 7.5 hours to a few minutes.
Additionally, a number of automated processes (validation of relationships, checks for completeness of allocations, variance reports) were implemented to assure ledger integrity.
The general ledger system now simultaneously maintains summary accounts for financial responsibility center, legal entity and other management reporting. A vastly improved series of reports are produced directly from the ledger with CA's VRW report writer.
Besides significantly reducing month end closing times, a very fragile financial reporting system was transformed into a rock solid one with unlimited growth potential.
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ERP INSTANCE CONSOLIDATIONGL Associates performs major ERP database instance consolidations for JD Edwards, Oracle and PeopleSoft ERP systems. Our methodologies and automated conversion tools enable us to perform these projects in planned timeframes with high quality testing cycles at a predictable cost. We have experience with every need in ERP database instance consolidations including reorganizations, divestitures, and mergers (of similar and dissimilar businesses).
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PRESS RELEASE: 2010 Technology Best PracticesJul 15th 2010
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Sep 14th 2010