Controllership considerations for strategic acquisitions
If your organization is undergoing an acquisition, you know all too well the challenges of integrating two or more distinct cultures. Not only are you navigating legacy processes and technologies—you’re also having to consider the human aspect, like aligning both teams to one single mission. Here are a few things you can do up front to make for a smoother transition later.
1. Find a clear and combined digital strategy
Your goal here is maximizing the strengths of both companies for increased innovation, optimal resource utilization, and minimized redundancies. To do this, you want to:
- Assess the digital maturity of both companies and design a detailed roadmap for integration. That means taking a closer look at the use of systems and prioritizing the tools crucial for business continuity and value generation.
- Identify and adopt the most effective controllership practices, whether that’s a specialized financial reporting tool from one entity or a robust internal control process from the other.
- Determine the human, financial, and technological resources required for integration, clearly communicating and delegating responsibilities.
- Focus on staying future-proof with a flexible and adaptable digital strategy.
2. Strive for unified data and governance
Combining data from different entities will be challenging. You’ll want to securely manage it to ensure its integrity and accessibility. That means:
- Developing a comprehensive data blueprint that showcases how data from different sources will be integrated, stored, and accessed.
- Adopting advanced data integration tools that promote consistency and minimize data loss or distortion.
- Establishing a data governance framework with clear roles, responsibilities, and protocols related to data access, usage, modification, and storage. You’ll also want to make sure to monitor these data flows and continuously validate, cleanse, and maintain the reliability of the data.
3. Get a grip on process, policy, and technology
Even in transition, you still need to move forward. Integrating your technology, processes, and policies will help maintain operational fluency and data fidelity, without a lapse in decision-making. You’ll want to:
- Delve deep into controllership technology to catalogue the tools, platforms, and systems you’ll need and analyze the core capacities, functions, and potential bottlenecks of each.
- Engage with the end-users to gain insights on the effectiveness, challenges, and potential enhancements for each tool.
- Map out controllership processes from both companies, highlighting the flow of tasks, decision points, and interdependencies.
- Bridge integration gaps and encourage harmony by conducting collaborative workshops where both teams come together to discuss integration strategies.
- Leverage the strengths, best practices, and effective solutions from both entities with room for continuous feedback.
The ultimate goal? Operating as one team.