Performance Management & Controlling

Effective corporate management - What is state-of-the-art?

Corporate management and the controlling entrusted with it have undergone a constant development over the last decades. Thus, controlling sees itself as a consulting service for management and the business partnering concept is still state-of-the-art. The consistent integration of corporate management and thus controlling into strategic planning and the implementation of strategies and vice versa is another decisive feature for effective corporate management. This is achieved by the integration of strategic goals into the key figure systems and above all by integrating the management of strategic measures into controlling. 
Economic and global crises repeatedly remind us that performance management must be dynamic and must provide reliable answers to new questions quickly. Traditional planning methods have long since ceased to be suitable for this purpose. Powerful simulation tools can integrate planning and simulation with the help of driver-based planning concepts. We believe that risk management must also be integrated into planning and must be brought out of the corner of compliance with legal requirements for company bodies.

What has changed in controlling due to the new requirements?

Thus, the requirements for controlling have changed significantly. The required concepts are usually not new, but must now be implemented consistently. Corporate performance management technologies are becoming increasingly powerful and facilitate self-service reporting, the automation of reporting, complex integrated simulation models and new analysis methods.
Due to the easy availability of all corporate data, the question as to which data contains relevant information for corporate management and whether this information is the responsibility of the CFO now arises for the controlling department.
Modern performance management systems as well as SAP S/4 also enable the integration of all accounting systems. The internal and external view of the figures must be generated by accounting in a single accounting unit. The group's profit and loss account can also be designed in such a way that any analysis across legal units is possible.

Why are cost management and liquidity management coming back into focus?

Crises have brought two other topics back into the spotlight of performance management: cost management and liquidity management. Cost management must be permanently anchored in the performance management process in order to have a lasting effect. In addition, all measures must be anchored in the accounting system in such a way that cost targets become transparent and measurable.
Liquidity management, which is usually the responsibility of Treasury, is also becoming increasingly important. Manual Excel processes, which are not linked to corporate planning, no longer meet the requirements. Instead, information from the ERP such as open items, order commitments and services must be used and corporate planning must be integrated into financial planning.