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5 ways to carry out financial consolidation and reporting for your group:
If you use Excel for your consolidation, these highlights are for you. In a recent webinar, Jette Thelin highlighted the capabilities and limitations of Excel for group consolidation. Despite the love that finance professionals have for Excel, the tool can become frustrating when the complexity of the group structure reaches its limits.
In the PwC Norway Consolidation Report, the importance of automating consolidation and streamlining reporting for groups was also highlighted.
What you will get from this reading:
A reflection on finance departments' preference for Excel: why all accountants love Excel.
An insight into the many other possibilities that financial consolidation offers.
The solutions that Konsolidator provides.
All finance professionals love Excel: is it easy to see why?
As a finance professional, how you approach automating and streamlining your consolidation process is a personal choice. However, sticking with Excel alone is not the most efficient route. We’re not questioning your Excel skills—all of us in finance know how much we value this tool—but rather the opportunities you miss by relying on a tool that, while powerful, is inordinately time-consuming. And that time-consuming time will only increase as your business grows in complexity. Your time is valuable; invest it where it really matters.
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In the webinar, Jette, a former CFO and Accounting Director, shared her experiences with Excel, both good and bad, especially when the company starts to rely on overly complex spreadsheets. Jette has worked in finance and management and has faced many of the challenges that finance departments face today. She has also dedicated herself to identifying the right tools to solve them.
"I've worked a lot with Lean, looking for the right tools to digitize finance functions. And yes, that was great and very interesting, but I also know that there are always a lot of projects in a finance department."
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To stay or not to stay… with Excel. It’s easy to see why finance professionals love Excel; Excel is great for organizing data on its own, thanks to its flexibility. Plus, it’s comforting to work with something you’re familiar with and have mastered:
You can do your calculations.
You can adjust your diagrams to fit an Excel presentation.
Formulas are already built into Excel, but you can also create your own.
It is already part of your Microsoft license.
However, when Excel’s flexibility and capabilities reach their limits, working with it becomes frustrating. These two factors should be your key indicators for knowing when to stop. Don’t keep expanding it: you risk making it so complicated that it ends up consuming too much of your time. Because:
If Excel is already taking up more of your time and effort than it should, it may be time to reconsider your tools. Instead of fighting against its limits, take the leap to solutions that streamline your processes and reduce errors. Value your time and that of your team: explore new alternatives that truly support the growth and complexity of your company. The change may be simpler than you think!
Example: When the complexity of the group structure is too great for Excel
Below is an example of a group structure that is too complex for a spreadsheet. With subgroups and multiple deletions, this example is not for Excel; it is too advanced, with too many layers.
It takes time to do the calculations.
It gets blocked, maybe because the Excel sheet is too big.
You start finding broken links, errors or incorrect formulas.
It is not possible to work with more data versions.
And most importantly, your entire finance team relies on the person who created the sheet.
Overview of the different consolidation possibilities.
If you are thinking about automating your consolidation process, there are several possibilities beyond Excel, although Excel remains one way to do it. In the image, you can see five options, including Excel; let's analyze them, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses:
Excel – The most manual solution.
Excel can be useful for small groups with simple structures, especially if you have the knowledge to customize it from the beginning. However, its limitations become apparent as complexity increases. It is not designed for full-fledged accounting or for adapting to advanced accounting processes. Furthermore, creating more flexible and error-free spreadsheets requires exceptional skills. While it is a valuable tool, its prolonged use can become a hindrance as consolidation and business needs become more demanding.
ERP - Number aggregation.
An ERP system is a viable option if the entire group uses the same system and does not have a complex structure. It can be an on-premise (customized) or cloud-based (standardized) solution. Compared to Excel, it reduces manual maintenance time, but only aggregates numbers rather than performing full consolidated accounting. For key calculations such as eliminations, transfers or adjustments, you will need additional support.
Its main advantage is its ability to easily integrate with specific consolidation solutions when in the cloud.
BI Solutions – Group and analyze numbers.
BI solutions are useful for consolidating small groups and analyzing numbers in detail, especially in areas like sales, since they update data daily. However, they focus more on aggregation than full consolidation. They require advanced Excel skills to integrate properly, which can be challenging. While BI, Excel, and ERP all have their strengths, it’s crucial to assess your group’s specific needs before choosing a tool, ensuring it’s the best option in terms of functionality and efficiency.
Traditional CPM systems are powerful, consolidated tools that are ideal for large groups with complex structures. Their strength lies in managing advanced consolidations and incorporating features such as planning and budgeting. While cloud-based versions are available, they generally require highly customized on-premise implementations, which means relying on experts to configure and use them. These tools offer complete solutions, but their complexity can be a challenge. Before opting for them, it is crucial to assess whether the sophistication of your group justifies this choice or whether something more flexible is needed.
Konsolidator – The facilitator.
Our solution, Konsolidator, is another way to achieve consolidation. If your company is too large and advanced for Excel, but too small to afford traditional software, Konsolidator may be the solution.
Konsolidator is a standardized and flexible software for small and medium-sized businesses. That means it’s 100% cloud-based. You can create companies and users without having to rely on external consultants. What you get is what you need for proper consolidation: as easy to use as Excel, you get streamlined data for your group and you don’t rely on a single person.
This software is designed exclusively for consolidation and nothing else. It integrates with your existing accounting software easily, creating a complete data flow.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you’re a finance professional looking to automate and streamline your consolidation process, there are several options available to you beyond Excel. While Excel is a beloved tool for many accountants, its limitations can become frustrating and time-consuming as your business grows in size and complexity. By considering other options, you can improve accuracy, reduce errors, and free up valuable time for more strategic tasks. Options like cloud-based ERP systems, BI solutions, or specialized consolidation software like Konsolidator.
The five consolidation solutions presented in the webinar were Excel, ERP, BI, CPM and Konsolidator. Excel is the most manual solution that requires advanced knowledge in flexibility and error-free work documents. ERP is suitable for groups that use the same accounting software without complexity and standardizes the consolidation process. BI is ideal for analyzing and grouping numbers, but is closer to aggregation than to consolidation itself. CPM solutions are much more expensive, but offer more complete consolidation functionality than ERP. Konsolidator is an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution that offers the functionality of a CPM.
Challenges of the
CSRD Reporting
The CSRD directive requires companies to provide detailed information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Key challenges include:
Data Volume: Large amount of data that must be collected, analyzed and reported.
Standards Compliance: Alignment with standards such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
Transparency and Auditability: Ensure that reports are consistent and auditable by third parties.
Operational Complexity: Integration of data from multiple business units and systems.
How Can Technology Help?
The use of technology in reporting processes can significantly transform compliance with CSRD requirements by enabling greater efficiency and quality in reporting. Here are some practical ways in which we believe technology is essential:
Benefits of Technology in CSRD Reporting
The adoption of technology provides tangible and intangible benefits, including:
1. Greater Assertiveness
Error reduction through automation and data validation.
More reliable data for stakeholders, investors and auditors.
2. Agility in the Process
Significant reduction in the time required to collect, analyze and consolidate information.
Ability to respond quickly to regulatory changes or additional requirements.
3. Cost Reduction
Less need for rework and manual corrections.
Optimization of human and financial resources allocated to reporting.
1. Process Automation
Technological solutions allow you to automate repetitive tasks, such as data compilation and consolidation. Integrated systems can obtain data directly from ERP systems, CRMs and other corporate platforms, reducing human error and saving time.
2. Advanced Data Analysis
Business Intelligence (BI) and predictive analytics tools help process large volumes of data, identifying patterns and gaps in ESG indicators. This approach provides more accurate insights and enables data-driven decision-making.
3. Automatic Compliance
By using specific software, it will be possible to help organizations map regulatory requirements and ensure alignment with CSRD standards. By implementing compliance systems, it is possible to ensure that reports comply with standards from the outset.
4. Integration and Centralization
Technological platforms integrate different data sources, allowing a centralized and holistic view of ESG KPIs, and thus, having a platform facilitates the tracking and traceability of different data.
5. Real-Time Reporting
Having dashboard solutions allows managers to view data in real time, optimizing the agility in identifying problems and making adjustments before sending reports.
OnGlobal Solutions at Akeron's Power Together 2025 event
OnGlobal Solutions attended Akeron’s 2025 Kick Off event, Power Together, held in Lucca, Italy. During two intense days, we had the opportunity to learn about this year’s partner program, as well as the latest developments and developments in Tarko and Vulki products.
The event was a privileged space for networking and knowledge sharing, including strategic presentations and a look at Akeron's roadmap for 2025. It was clear that this year will be marked by the focus on marketing strategies, communication, Partner certification and improving the customer journey, with new features that aim to enhance customers' decision-making capacity.
Fig.1 - João Fernandes, Partner at OnGlobal Solutions, and Vilma Franco, Responsible for Business Automation Solutions, attended this Kick-Off in the Tuscany region of Italy
Innovation for Tarko and Vulki Solutions
Akeron presents significant developments in its solutions for 2025, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and decision-making capacity of its customers.
Tarko: Project Business Automation (PBA) platform now integrates even more agile AI-based solutions optimized for technical and professional services.
Vulki: the Commercial Excellence platform with evolution also at the AI level for the management of incentives and compensations, commercial agreements and promotions, including B2B operations and sales performance in an integrated manner.
Featured: Automatic Contract Import with AI.
This feature allows you to load documents (usually PDF contracts) into both Vulki and Tarko, extracting relevant fields and clauses for automatic loading into the database.
Users can define parameters/questions to guide the AI in identifying fields and translating clauses and fields between languages.
Advantages:
Increases efficiency by reducing manual contract loading time
Reduces errors, often associated with complex and repetitive tasks
It will allow users to focus on value-added activities for the business
Simplify Translation from/to other languages when managing a Multilingual database.
About our brief visit to Lucca
In addition to the corporate side, the event provided a cultural immersion in the charming city of Lucca, with visits to the Puccini Museum and the Guinigi Tower.
We are excited about the possibilities these new developments will bring to the continued success of our customers and partners.
About our brief visit to Lucca
In addition to the corporate side, the event provided a cultural immersion in the charming city of Lucca, with visits to the Puccini Museum and the Guinigi Tower.
We are excited about the possibilities these new developments will bring to the continued success of our customers and partners.
