Connection saves time and increases value for PwC France and Maghreb

At PwC France and Maghreb, connecting workforce and finance data had been a slow, manual chore.  Connecting the two teams using an automated, real-time process with Anaplan has accelerated annual budgeting, saved thousands of work hours for project managers, improved decision-making by eliminating organizational silos, an ultimately created a better experience for PwC’s clients.

The expression “time is money” is especially true in consulting, where revenue comes from hours serving clients. But sharing data between HR and finance teams for timely and accurate financial planning and forecasting can be a challenge.

“Our financial planning process depends on workforce planning,” explains Christophe Decugis, Head of Financial Transformation at PwC France and Maghreb. “But we were struggling with inconsistent data between human capital and finance.”

Finance and HR tried to synchronize information from separate databases using a time-consuming, manual operation, but the process regularly broke down when one side or the other changed figures midstream. “We were coming back to the business with different figures and simulations that didn’t align with the latest discussions in the business,” Decugis recalls. Because financial planning was slow and manual, it sometimes extended into summer vacation season, which delayed plans even further. (PwC closes its books in June.)

Connecting workforce and financial plans

Decugis wanted finance and HR to work with the same data. Because the company used Anaplan for workforce planning, it made sense to extend the platform into finance. With a shared Anaplan platform, finance planning at PwC starts with the HR team’s workforce plan. Finance estimates the occupation rate of all consultants — that is, the percentage of billable hours worked by various levels of consultants — by profit center. They then estimate the billing rate PwC can charge for each level of consultant. “By combining these two factors with the workforce plan, we can calculate a gross margin forecast,” Decugis explains.

The finance team adds overhead costs to complete the P&L, then uses Anaplan to allocate shared costs. “We can set the rules, then adjust them for a particular profit center if we need to,” Decugis says. “This is how we build our financial plan.”

Beyond FP&A, project managers at PwC use another Anaplan application, a project controlling module, to estimate project revenue and costs when they bid on new projects. “This ensures that our people make the right decisions when they go to the customer with a quote,” Decugis explains. “It’s how we ensure that PwC stays profitable.” Once a project is underway, the same Anaplan application is used for project controlling, reconciling of actuals, and monitoring deviations from the plan.

Faster processes, greater visibility

The benefits of financial planning with Anaplan have been dramatic. “With Anaplan, we have reduced the time and duration of our financial planning process,” Decugis says. “We spent about five months to complete the process before, and now it’s done in three months. We have the same result with better data quality. Our forecast accuracy has improved, and it’s no longer a painful process.”

The benefits from Anaplan extend beyond the finance department. “We’ve improved the visibility we can provide to the business regarding occupation rates and workforce planning,” he notes. The business uses this information to react quickly to change, improve the rolling forecast process, and adjust recruiting plans on the fly. “The benefit is that it's real-time updates, with everybody being informed at the same time,” Decugis says.

The project controlling module provides project managers with information on a daily basis that previously was painful for them to collect. Eventually, this application improves PwC’s margins while increasing the company’s abiity to meet customer customer expectations within the initial budget. “This gives us a complete picture of the costs and revenues we can have on a project, which results in a more accurate margin estimation at the end of the project,” Decugis says.

Decugis estimates that the project controlling module alone saves project managers more than 20,000 hours per year. “I think we are saving probably two hours per week for each project manager — and we have probably around 200 active project managers in the consulting line of service,” he says. “It's a tremendous relief for the business.” The project controlling module also improves outcomes for PwC’s clients, because project managers can spend more time on projects and less time on overhead tasks.

Having finance, workforce, and project managers all in the Anaplan platform promises to createnew possibilities at PwC France and Maghreb. “What's really exciting about the future with Anaplan is that our teams can really work together on accurate data,” Decugis concludes.