Reporting Factory, a vehicle for transforming management control​

The Reporting Factory covers a wide range of financial, operational and regulatory requirements while providing input for managerial performance evaluation.

It adds value to the finance function by supporting closing processes, refining the information produced and minimising the costs associated with information management.

Corporate management faces a number of challenges, including redefining its role as a business partner, improving data quality and integrating non-financial data. The transition to the Reporting Factory model is a fluid and strategic process that takes place in three main phases:​

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1. Reporting Factory: In the first phase, manual processes are automated using consolidation systems and MS Office. This simplifies reporting, reduces errors and speeds up processes, while paving the way for more sophisticated advances.​
2. Digital Reporting Factory: Once basic automation is in place, the next step is the Digital Reporting Factory. Here, technology takes centre stage with the integration of DataViz tools. These tools improve the readability of the reports and allow users to edit and interact with the data in a more intuitive way.​
3. Performance Centre of Excellence:  In the final phase, the Reporting Factory evolves into a Performance Centre of Excellence. This phase is characterised by the use of advanced technologies, including collaborative planning and enterprise performance management (EPM) tools. These tools promote better collaboration and transparency and enable faster and more accurate decision-making.​

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For more details, discover our last study Innovation in the Finance Function.

If you would like to receive this study as well as a customized benchmarking report from Eight Advisory’s experts, click here!

Editorial team: 

Pierre Gauthier

Maxime Touvet

Florian Jouvenot

Clément Defretin