Business case Jan De Nul Group
Jan De Nul Group: key information
- Business sector: dredging, civil engineering, environmental activities
- Family business founded in 1938
- Headquarters: Luxembourg
- 170 entities to consolidate
- Replacement of Lefebvre Software
- More information: jandenul.com
The return on investment – in a few words
- Centralized consolidation process that can be carried out by a small staff
- Entirely independent use of the software: flexibility, time and money savings
- Effective interfaces and complete traceability in the audit phase
The situation
The Jan De Nul Group produces consolidated accounts twice a year. The consolidation process is very centralized: most of the 170 entities of the group do not have a permanent accounting team and the consolidation is thus performed by a small staff at the headquarters.
The complexity regarding the consolidation of the group is a result of:
- The different currencies
- Conversion issues
- The complex structure of the group
Due to the strong growth of the group and increased management needs, it was possible that the group needed to perform more than twice a year its consolidated accounts. The Financial Direction of the group was looking for a reliable software that could set up an effective process and has the possibility to evolve with the growth of the group.
The solution
Different software suppliers on the market were contacted (SAP, IBM, Oracle and Sigma Conso). After a comparison of those software packages, Consolidation & Reporting from Sigma Conso was chosen. The software was implemented in July 2011 and the first consolidation was successfully completed in September 2011.
The data comes from the accounting systems and are injected into Consolidation & Reporting via accounting file interfaces. Thanks to the system implemented, the Group’s consolidation is handled very efficiently. With Consolidation & Reporting, the Group has a solution that is flexible in all respects and makes it easy to keep up with all of the Group’s changes and specificities.
The result
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A centralized consolidation process
The implementation of Consolidation & Reporting made the production of consolidated accounts far more reliable. In addition, process automation made it possible for a single person to carry out the consolidation for 170 entities. The group also benefits from the high information reliability. Furthermore, the risk on errors has been significantly reduced (for example, the number of pages ‘rejected’ after the first consolidation has come from 32 pages to 1 page).
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Entirely independent use of the software
The client can easily take care of modifications in the consolidation scope and make parameter changes fully independently. This results in a significant time savings for the consolidation manager: he can update the system with all group changes from one period to another without having to call outside consultants. Also in this respect, Consolidation & Reporting is a well-managed investment.
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Effective interfaces and complete traceability
The software relies on effective interfaces and several functionalities make it possible to create events (the automation of recurring entries) and to manage translation adjustments in an efficient way. Complete traceability is guaranteed and information required by auditors can be easily located.
Marc De Raedt, Consolidation Manager at Jan De Nul explains:
“In addition to all the benefits listed above, what I also like about Consolidation & Reporting is its ability to automatically create reports that show our (very complex) group structure. Before the implementation of the software, I had to create organization charts myself.”
The benefits of the implementation are already visible, but the group is not yet using all functionalities available in the software: analytical reporting, inclusion of data in management reporting … In a second phase, the group will also use these tools in order to fully benefit from all the possibilities available in Consolidation & Reporting.
