Riding the wave of digital transformation

New technologies are transforming the way accountants work and the profession must adapt to and embrace this sea change to foster future success, writes Conor Flanagan

How people interact with technology is changing as it becomes increasingly powerful, and our expectations of what it can and should deliver continue to rise. 

In our profession, the risk does not come down to a lack of technological literacy or the complexity of new accounting technologies; the risk is that we might ignore the wave of change sweeping through the profession. 

If you ride the wave, however small, you will grow and develop with the changing industry. But ignore the wave, and you risk being left behind in the shallow waters of a pre-digital world.

Investing in the future

Digital transformation should not be viewed as a cost, but rather an investment in the future of your business – an investment that can improve processes and ensure your business is at the cutting edge of technology and the benefits that come with it. 

A successful digital transformation can unleash the potential of your business and your team by freeing your time to focus on strategic and value-added tasks, ultimately driving growth.

We are all aware of digital transformations that have gone wrong, however, costing some organisations dearly, so what measures can companies take to ensure success?

The key to success starts long before the implementation itself begins and relies on:

1. Successful system selection; 
2. A clear understanding of existing business processes; 
3. Key user/management buy-in; 
4. Selecting the correct partner; 
5. A willingness to embrace change; and
6. Understanding your data.

Taking time before implementation to focus on the above will help ensure you enter the transformation prepared for an optimal outcome. 

This will not only result in a smooth implementation, but by understanding your data and your business requirements, you will also be able to see the true potential of your new solution and help drive your business forward.

At the recent Chartered Accountants Technology Conference, held in January 2024, we had the pleasure of hearing from two Irish organisations that recently underwent significant digital transformations. 

We heard their stories, alongside the lessons they learned from their own implementation projects and the benefits each delivered.

Glanbia’s HANA solution

First, we heard from Eoin Butler, Finance Systems Centre of Excellence Lead with Glanbia plc, who shared the global nutrition group’s experience implementing the SAP S/4HANA solution. 

S/4HANA is a ready-to-run cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
With operations in 32 countries and annual group revenue exceeding $5.4 billion, Glanbia needed a scalable solution with proven capacity to handle the needs of a complex global business. 

The vision at the outset, Butler explained, was to “digitise the Glanbia business to drive value”. 

It was agreed early on that a brownfield approach would be used for the engagement. This is usually the case if the existing system has been in use for some time and may require significant modifications or integrations during the migration. 

In Glanbia’s case, Butler noted that the brownfield approach was one of the key reasons for the project’s success.

Although a complex global business, Glanbia opted to work with just one single global instance of SAP ERP Central Component (ECC). 

Because the project involved significant customisations and integrations with Glanbia’s existing system, these requirements were considered as a key aspect of the solution selection process. 

Already a SAP customer for over 20 years, Glanbia opted to stay within the SAP ecosystem and migrate to a newer version of its existing solution.

A significant challenge that emerged at an early stage in the project was the data already held on the existing system. An engagement was required to cleanse and fully understand this data before migration could take place. 

Understanding your master data, and multiple data sources, is key to ensuring a successful migration or implementation. Taking time to understand and cleanse this data put Glanbia in a much better position to be able to improve reporting and efficiency. 

Finally, Butler pointed out that any implementation on this scale cannot be done alone. A strong internal team, hardware and software partners, as well as helpful buy-in from SAP resulted in a successful implementation for Glanbia.

Although there were benefits in finance, such as upgrades to the credit function, the new general ledger module within the SAP solution and profitability analysis, most of the benefits were technological and under the hood, laying the foundation to make Glanbia tech-ready for years to come.

Cullen Cleaning Services

Cullen Cleaning Services (CCS) is a commercial contract cleaning company operating across Europe. Headquartered in Dublin, its clients include household names such as Primark, River Island and H&M. 

At this year’s Chartered Accountants Ireland Technology Conference, Brian Flannery, Chief Financial Officer with CCS, outlined the company’s experience implementing a Dynamics 365 Business Central solution with a business intelligence (BI) warehouse reporting solution on top.

Flannery covered the evolving role of today’s finance leader in such a project, which involves leading people through digital change. 

In the case of CCS, Flannery noted that the implementation had “accelerated the digital transformation in [the] business”. 

Pivotal role of finance leaders

The top priorities for CFOs set out in a 2024 Executive Priorities Survey by management consultancy Gartner included:

• transformation;
• improving finance metrics;
• leading change management; and 
• improving the finance function. 

As accountants and finance leaders, we have the skillset to deliver on these priorities. More than that, there is an expectation that we play a central role in leading digital transformation and driving high standards in systems and reporting.

Before its migration, CCS had a mainly paper-based solution, requiring team members to enter the same data multiple times while also relying heavily on Microsoft Excel for data manipulation and reporting.

It was identified that the move to the cloud would help reduce manual labour by integrating with other solutions. Ultimately, integration improved the accuracy of the company’s data, thereby facilitating greater collaboration between departments.

Integrating previously isolated data sources and reducing data entry time provided deeper insight to company management, improving the speed and quality of decision-making.

Flannery emphasised the importance of treating system selection and partner selection as two distinct processes. 

Although the first partner you speak with may have the solution that meets your needs, it is still worth talking to additional partners. 

The partner you choose will become a key player in your implementation journey and, as Flannery put it during his presentation, “becomes an additional employee”.  

Like a disruptive employee, a disruptive implementation partner can cause damage that no amount of planning or preparation can help you recover from.

Finally, after ‘go live’, Brian stressed the importance of taking time to conduct a review: has the project been a success, and have your goals been met? It is quite often the case that system implementations go live even though parts of the team using it still have unmet requirements. 

Review and improve

It is important to track additional requirement gaps that arise during the implementation and address them after the new system has gone live as ‘phase two’ of the project. 

Scope creep is a looming risk for every digital project; focusing on the key deliverables and timelines is paramount. 

The additional scope should be noted and readdressed after the go-live date, if not business critical, because you are never truly finished with digital transformation.

So, where is CCS? The company has a fully integrated solution using modern Application Programming Interface (API) integrations. It relies heavily on Optical Character Recognition to automate the accounts payable and data entry processes. 

In addition to a Business Central solution, CCS has implemented a full BI reporting solution, sitting on top of the ERP solution and assisting with the preparation of management accounts. 

This has taken one day off the month-end close process – an additional day for finance staff to focus on other value-added tasks.

Focus on people

After reviewing the project, Flannery noted some key takeaways he would keep in mind for any future transformation projects. 

The key point to note here is that all these takeaways are people-focused – not technical-focused. For a transformation to be successful, it will be entirely dependent on people. 

These systems work. There are thousands of references and case studies worldwide attesting to this, but whether your solution works for you depends entirely on how you approach soft skills and the implementation process itself. The four key points to remember are:

1. Do not under-resource;
2. Communicate clearly and thoroughly;
3. Remember, change does not equal transformation; and
4. Celebrate the wins.

To finish, Flannery shared a quote from Albert Einstein: “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”

Reluctance to embrace technology and change will be the number one occupational hazard facing accountants over the next decade, but it will be people and relationships that drive the successful implementation of new technology. 

Future leaders may not intimately understand this technology, but they do understand the importance of embracing a change mindset and working with their colleagues and partners to achieve it.