How Shares automated 100% of its monthly cross-checks and brought consolidation in-house
The challenge
Monthly reporting at Shares ran on Google Sheets. Each subsidiary entered its figures by hand into shared spreadsheets, and the finance team consolidated everything manually every month: copy-pasting, reconciling and cross-checking numbers across tabs to produce the reporting package.
The team wanted to:
- Eliminate manual work and the formula and copy-paste errors that come with it
- Speed up the monthly close and make the review easier
- Gain confidence and traceability, with data connected directly to the accounting system
The solution
Shares had full access to Outline within a month, and the team was autonomous within two. All the Google Sheets now live in a single tool, connected to the accounting software and refreshed regularly.
The quarterly consolidation, previously outsourced to an accounting firm, now runs in Outline. Consolidation restatements such as intercompany eliminations, FX translation of foreign subsidiaries and other GAAP adjustments are generated automatically.
Outline has given us a lot more comfort and confidence in our numbers: the data is directly linked to our accounting software, updated regularly, and can be cross-checked at any time.
The results
- 100% of monthly cross-checks automated
- Quarterly consolidation brought in-house
- Figures can be cross-checked at any time, instead of waiting for a manual reconciliation
- Hours of copy-pasting and consolidation saved every month
