Group-Wide Transparency and Analyses at the Push of a Button

Heraeus is a 160-year-old family-owned company with more than 120 individual companies. Data for the financial statements of the individual subsidiaries and preparing the consolidated financial statements in the holding company was previously collected in Excel and SAP EC-CS. Against the backdrop of global Group activity this way of working was extremely costly and outdated.

The aim was to introduce standardized data collection worldwide and a central storage point for this data. In addition to the collection of data for financial statements, the aim was to improve the subsequent analysis of the consolidated data in order to be able to perform evaluations quickly and easily. The intention was also for the presentation of sub-group financial statements to be possible as well as segment reporting according to country and business division.

With the help of Arvato Systems as system integrator, SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation was introduced across the Group. The wealth of Arvato Systems knowledge was passed on to the accounting department in workshops and through an intensive mentoring scheme as part of the project. The constantly reliable approach by those involved in the project made it possible to achieve a combined meeting of requirements with a high degree of quality. The solution can be used for more than just the statutory financial statements. In addition to a reporting package for IFRS consolidated financial statements, the project team also developed a tax reporting system for the U.S. sub-group based on structures already existing in SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation.

Introduction of a reporting and consolidation solution for statutory financial statements in accordance with IFRS

Implementation of SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation in 2009. Arvato Systems has helped to further develop the system and provided other support services since 2010.

The system enables the international subsidiaries to transfer individual financial statements quickly and securely. Data quality has improved significantly and considerable pressure has been taken off the reporting team in terms of preparing the consolidated financial statements.

• Range of consultancy services: Process consulting, design, implementation, customizing, employee training, documentation and support
• Modules: Statutory consolidation and reporting in accordance with IFRS, subgroup consolidation and tax reporting
• Technology platform: SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation