Bridging the gap to readiness
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 helped a U.S. government agency transform its finance organization in order to be better prepared for rigorous annual financial statement audits.
Client
A U.S. federal agency
Sector
Government
Project
Finance transformation
Client challenge
Our client, a major U.S. federal government agency, was about to face its first annual financial statement audit. The agency鈥檚 CFO wasn鈥檛 certain the finance group was ready and needed answers to questions such as:聽
- Are we processing transactions in a timely manner?聽
- Are our processes efficient and effective?聽
- Are we following applicable laws, regulations, and policies?
- Are our financial reporting processes rigorous?聽
- How do we make sure our people, processes, and technologies are prepared?聽
- Are we ready to sustain annual audits?
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网's management of the transformation made sure the organizational changes caused minimal disruption to day-to-day accounting and finance operations.
Approach
In preparation for its first annual audit, our long-term federal agency client asked us to assess the overall health of its accounting and financial reporting processes. That assessment provided insights into the people performing the processes, the state of the processes, and the technology and tools the team used. It also led to a subsequent assessment of the financial group鈥檚 organization and its agreement with a separate financial services provider.聽
The results of the two assessments made it clear to the CFO that the group needed to overhaul its processes, organization, and capabilities in order to successfully handle rigorous annual audits. So we designed a major transformation program for the agency鈥檚 finance function, and partnered with the group through every phase including a significant organizational redesign, development of new capabilities, an audit readiness聽evaluation, change management, and on-the-job training focused on accounting and reporting processes. Our project management of the transformation made sure the organizational changes cause minimal disruption to day-to-day accounting and finance operations.
Benefits to client
The transformed finance organization is more efficient,聽effective, and聽 streamlined. A rigorous communications聽infrastructure and enhanced risk management and聽program management processes give stakeholders an聽in-depth view of the agency鈥檚 day-to-day operations.聽And the agency鈥檚 financial leaders clearly understand聽the audit process, and are fully prepared to engage聽with auditors.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 insights
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Make transformation a priority
Transformation projects require the support and active involvement of senior leaders. To be successful, they must have an adequate budget, realistic schedule, clearly defined criteria, and a dedicated and accountable project management team. To pre-empt and manage employee concerns and pushback, leaders need to communicate clearly and transparently.
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Use external resources, but lead internally
External contractors who specialize in reorganizations can support the project, but the effort won鈥檛 succeed without internal accountability, belief in the goals of the transformation, ownership, and active participation from employees and leaders. Knowledge transfer, documentation of lessons learned, and recommendations that extend beyond the project are imperative.
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Tie transformational goals to business goals
The goals of the transformation should be defined and linked to specific business goals.
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Leaders must sustain the change
Transformation is a long-term commitment. It may take years to fully achieve the performance objectives of the change. Leaders should demonstrate continuous commitment with their involvement throughout the process.
Meet our team
Elizabeth Hacquard
Partner, Federal Advisory, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Elizabeth Hacquard
Partner, Federal Advisory, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US