The Underlying Question
The owner of a successful, family-owned group of companies sensed that the business had more potential than its results reflected. The finance team, led by a capable CFO, was spending a disproportionate amount of time producing around 60 Excel-based reports each month, trapped in a cycle of manual data wrangling. As a result, strategic meetings were often bogged down by debates over different interpretations of the numbers, diluting the leadership's focus. The owner knew his CFO's time was better spent on strategy than on spreadsheets, and that the 'gravitational force' of this legacy reporting was constraining the group's full potential.
"We were drowning in data but starved for insight. This process didn't just give us a new tool; it gave us back our strategic focus. Our meetings are now about the future, not about whose Excel sheet is right."
Architecting a New System of Clarity
Our engagement began with a focused pilot on the most critical area: executive sales performance.
We designed and built an intuitive, 5-screen Power BI dashboard designed to provide all necessary insights instantly.
Acknowledging the team's attachment to the old ways, we built a bridge to the new system. We replicated two of the most-used legacy reports within the tool, demonstrating how the same information was now available more intuitively. We also set up automated notifications to push key insights directly to executives. The 'aha!' moment came from a new customer topography visual, which allowed the team to dynamically evaluate customer performance across sales and margin. For the first time, they could see exceptions and patterns in seconds, not hours. We then conducted hands-on onboarding with the entire executive team, ensuring they felt confident and in control.The Decisive Result
The impact on the quality of leadership conversations was immediate. Meetings that were once spent trying to reconcile numbers are now spent making strategic decisions based on a single, trusted source of truth. The CFO has been liberated from the majority of the manual reporting burden, freeing up their time to function as the true financial strategist the owner needs. This successful pilot has solidified the case for a strategic BI revamp across the entire group. Furthermore, the ability to present a clear, professional, data-driven story has elevated their image and strengthened their position in high-stakes negotiations with key suppliers.