AMITY UNIVERSITY

KOLKATA

ASSIGNMENT ON

STRATEGIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO :
PROF. SHUBHRA BISWAS

SUBMITTED BY:

Nitu Raj

MBA 04

A91801917041
Case Study: From Daily Transactional to Strategic Financial Management
One thing we see over and over again when we meet with prospective clients is a lot of great companies that are
caught up in the daily hamster wheel of getting work pushed out: data entry, matching invoices to purchase
orders, generating reports and so on. With so much effort spent on transactional activities, there simply isn’t
enough time or enough talent to support strategic financial management functions, like risk analysis or financial
modeling.
Last year, Sutherland partnered with one of those great companies, a national provider of integrated payment and
security solutions for financial institutions. Our client has over 11,000 customers and more 4,500 employees
around the globe. The company’s multiple accounting centers reflected the firm’s international nature, with
General Ledger, Order to Cash and Procure to Pay functions each being handled by branch units.
From a business perspective, the company was facing three main challenges:
Higher Infrastructure Costs: Talent redundancies contributed to a very high cost for FTEs. While there were
ongoing staff reductions, with multiple accounting centers around the world, the costs to support the people,
infrastructure and technology were impacting the client’s bottom line.
Lack of Visibility & Accurate Data: Due to multiple ERP systems, it was impossible for finance leaders to get a
real-time, single-window view of the company. Decision-making information was difficult to obtain in a timely
manner, and because of variations in processes and practices, data was not always reliable.
Too Much Transactional Work: Our client’s skilled finance teams spent a disproportionate amount of time on
the daily tasks at hand. To be more efficient and get the most out of their own skilled talent, the client needed to
overhaul its approach to the finance function.
The Sutherland Solution
Working with our partner, we were able to identify and consolidated multiple accounting centers with different
ERP into a single global location at our facilities in Cochin, India. We started with the Procure to Pay function in
June of 2012. (Order to Cash, Financial Planning & Analysis and Record to Report functions are scheduled for
early 2013.) This also allowed us to get our client set up with best practice processes and controls, as well as
leading technology. Sutherland deployed proprietary technology solutions to drive automation and deliver
immediate performance and controls improvements. And, to eliminate inefficiencies and improve quality, we
designed and implemented our SWIFT Payables solution with workflow. Lastly, we implemented a Client
Service Portal institutionalized as a real-time, single-window view of metrics, issue logs, repository, and other
finance information, which could be accessed both internally as well as externally by the client. This type of
business process centralization resulted in consistent, company-wide finance practices. It also gave finance execs
more visibility into the process and results through enhanced reporting.
The Benefits
The partnership with Sutherland helped the company to achieve their objectives with:
 Reduced infrastructure cost, generating immediate cash savings.
 Enabled management to focus on strategic initiatives instead of day to day activities.
 Introduced technology to drive efficiencies and improved controls
Our client’s managers have access to unified, reliable data with real-time responses and are able to gain additional
insights into their business quickly and easily, across their worldwide operations. These global advantages allow
the company to provide superior service to their partners, regardless of region.
Most importantly, it has allowed management and managers to focus on strategy. With the tools and the practices
in place to ensure accurate, timely information, the company spends less time focusing on transactional activities
and more on control, risk and strategic decision-making.

Analyse the above case and comment on how you think the company made a successful transition towards
Strategic Financial Management.
Answer :
In the above case, Sutherland company was doing quite well but after partnering with one of those great
companies, a national provider of integrated payment and security solutions for financial institutions;
their clients got over 11,000 customers and more 4,500 employees around the globe.
The company’s multiple accounting centers reflected the firm’s international nature, with General Ledger,
Order to Cash and Procure to Pay functions each being handled by branch units.
But after partnering also still they were facing challenges like:
Higher Infrastructure Costs: Talent redundancies contributed to a very high cost for FTEs. While there
were ongoing staff reductions, with multiple accounting centers around the world, the costs to support the
people, infrastructure and technology were impacting the client’s bottom line.
Lack of Visibility & Accurate Data: Due to multiple ERP systems, it was impossible for finance leaders to
get a real-time, single-window view of the company. Decision-making information was difficult to obtain in
a timely manner, and because of variations in processes and practices, data was not always reliable.
Too Much Transactional Work: Our client’s skilled finance teams spent a disproportionate amount of time
on the daily tasks at hand. To be more efficient and get the most out of their own skilled talent, the client
needed to overhaul its approach to the finance function.

To combact these challenges they applied strategic financial management and its tools and the results that
came out changed the whole perspective of the business. They were:
While working with their partner they were able to identify and consolidated multiple accounting centers
with different ERP into a single global location at our facilities in Cochin, India
 They started with the Procure to Pay function in June of 2012. (Order to Cash, Financial Planning &
Analysis and Record to Report functions are scheduled for early 2013.)
 By doing this it allowed them to get their client set up with best practice processes and controls, as
well as leading technology.
 The company deployed proprietary technology solutions to drive automation and deliver immediate
performance and controls improvements.
 To eliminate inefficiencies and improve quality, they designed and implemented SWIFT Payables
solution with workflow.
 The company implemented a Client Service Portal institutionalized as a real-time, single-window
view of metrics, issue logs, repository, and other finance information, which could be accessed both
internally as well as externally by the client.
This type of business process centralization resulted in consistent, company-wide finance practices. It also
gave finance execs more visibility into the process and results through enhanced reporting.
The benefits that came out after implementing the tactics were commendable:
 Reduced infrastructure cost, generating immediate cash savings.
 Enabled management to focus on strategic initiatives instead of day to day activities.
 Introduced technology to drive efficiencies and improved controls
Now with that their client’s managers have access to unified, reliable data with real-time responses and are
able to gain additional insights into their business quickly and easily, across their worldwide operations.
These global advantages allow the company to provide superior service to their partners, regardless of
region.
Most importantly, it has allowed management and managers to focus on strategy.
With the tools and the practices in place to ensure accurate, timely information, the company spends less
time focusing on transactional activities and more on control, risk and strategic decision-making.