Operating Model Design for Fortune 50 Finance Organization

The Challenge

A global finance function was undertaking a redesign of its Controllership and Record to Report (R2R) organisation to improve accountability, role clarity and alignment to the wider business structure. Existing responsibilities and handoffs between teams lacked consistency, creating ambiguity in ownership and slowing decision-making across finance operations.

The programme required alignment across a complex senior stakeholder group, including Controllers, HR leadership, Business CFOs and the Chief Accounting Officer; many of whom held differing perspectives on organisational structure, responsibilities and transition priorities. Alongside the target operating model design, the organisation also needed a practical, people focused transition approach that could support adoption and reduce disruption.

The Solution

The future state Controllership and R2R organisation was designed with a focus on clearer accountabilities, simplified role definition and improved regional agility. A pragmatic organisation design approach and set of guiding principles were developed to structure discussions and reduce complexity for stakeholders throughout the programme.

Multiple senior leadership design workshops were facilitated covering accountability and decision ownership, organisational spans and layers, role responsibilities and handoffs, future capability requirements and leadership structure options.

Detailed Finance RACI deliverables were produced to clarify where Record to Report responsibilities ended and Controllership responsibilities began helping senior leaders reach alignment on operational ownership and governance boundaries.

The vision and change narrative were designed for the Chief Accounting Officer to use at Finance Town Halls and leadership engagement sessions. Future-state leadership, finance and workforce capabilities were proposed and adopted into the final design. A multi-level change impact assessment was led across current state, future state and organisational impacts, and organisation design options were presented to Business CFOs with feedback incorporated into the evolving model.

Approximately 50 future-state job outlines were produced in collaboration with senior leaders, alongside a comprehensive transition and change management approach covering transition options and implementation pathways, risk assessment and mitigation, employee relations considerations, knowledge transfer planning, audience-specific engagement strategies, change network setup, pre-mortem risk analysis and emotional and behavioural responses to change.

The Result

A clearer and more aligned Controllership and R2R operating model was delivered with improved accountability, role definition and clearer handoffs. Senior leaders were supported through complex organisational design decisions via pragmatic facilitation and structured engagement. A robust transition and change framework was created that balanced operational continuity with people focused adoption. Leadership alignment and stakeholder confidence improved through clear communication and structured design principles.