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An innovative workshop session plants the seeds for change and growth

KPMG Ignition helps the Crop Science division of Bayer make the changes that matter for finance transformation

Client

Bayer’s Crop Science division

Industry

Healthcare, agriculture, and life sciences

Primary goal

Apply fresh insights and lessons from other organizations to reinvent global finance for greater efficiency and relevance

test

When an acquisition doubles your revenue in your largest market, there are some big numbers at play—especially when you’re a $48 billion CPG company. And the bigger the numbers, the bigger the impact of every strategic and tactical decision you make. You can’t afford to have your visibility clouded and your decision-making hampered by having two disparate financial operations functions each with its own systems, software, and people. So, when a global CPG company found itself in this situation, it called on KPMG to drive fast, smooth, cost-efficient integration of financial operations.

Key outcomes

1

Increased engagement 

and global alignment between cross-functional teams

2

Greater visibility

 into consolidated spend driving meaningful insights and more proactive decisions

3

Days shaved off

the monthly close cycle

4

More accurate

revenue and sales forecasting

By 2022, Kelly Gast, the incoming chief financial officer (CFO) at Crop Science, the largest division of the global life sciences company Bayer, knew it was time to reinvent the way her organization did business. Four years after Bayer’s $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, the Bayer Crop Science division (BCS) finance team was still struggling to meet integration and efficiency targets. At the same time, COVID-19 had prevented global finance leaders from meeting in person for nearly two years, contributing to a lack of alignment on key goals and how to achieve them. To jump-start change, BCS turned to a KPMG Ignition team for practical, real-world guidance as it developed a multiyear transformation plan.

KEY OUTCOMES

Making a measurable difference

  • A single globally aligned vision for BCS finance transformation
  • An 18-month transformation roadmap incorporating multiple functions, processes, and work streams
  • Renewed confidence in the ability to plan and effect meaningful change at every level

Client transformation journey

Click on each part of the journey to learn more about our client’s transformation.

Client transformation journey

Before

Poor visibility threatened business objectives.

Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.

After

Unified financial operations support global success.

While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.

Future

A strong foundation that can keep pace with continued growth.

There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.

Before

Poor visibility threatened business objectives.

Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.

After

Unified financial operations support global success.

While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.

Future

A strong foundation that can keep pace with continued growth.

There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.

Client transformation journey

  • Before

    Poor visibility threatened business objectives.

    Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.The preconfigured assets and technology accelerators delivered by KPMG Powered Enterprise let ambitious leadership teams take advantage of embedded leading practices to speed up the decision-making process while instilling confidence.

  • After

    Unified financial operations support global success.

    While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.

  • Future

    A strong foundation that can keep pace with continued growth.

    There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.

Through our journey together, we realized that innovation and change are profoundly contextual. Collaborating with KPMG Ignition helped us organize our priorities and goals and take the first steps toward a major transformation of finance. Your confidence boost and careful guidance became the compass that steered us toward clear progress.

Kelly Gast

CFO at Bayer’s Crop Science division

KPMG Ignition sparks fresh thinking and rekindles confidence in change

1. Research and preparation phase

Understanding your business and challenges

Our first step in the engagement was to develop a fuller understanding of current operations, processes, and challenges at BCS. While some issues were already known through previous work with the CFO, the Ignition team needed to gather more detailed information from a wider range of sources. Key actions taken in this diagnostic phase included:

  • Reviewing existing organizational structure, benchmarking data, processes, technology, and existing integration/transformation initiatives
  • Conducting interviews and surveys with BCS finance personnel and other stakeholders; some in-person interviews were recorded for future use as Ignition Story Lab presentations during the upcoming workshop session
  • Briefing engagement sponsors in advance to explain our approach and prepare them for the workshop
  • Completing an overall maturity assessment of the client’s structure, people, culture, processes, and technology to determine readiness for change.

2. Vision and strategy workshop phase

Exploring the art of the possible

The heart of the engagement was a three-day in-person workshop held at the KPMG Ignition Center in Chicago. Participants included senior finance leaders from BCS’s Asia-Pacific, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and North/South American regions as well as related stakeholders in Risk Management, Human Resources, and Product Supply. Major objectives for the workshop included:

  • Exploring leading examples of how other life sciences companies are effecting transformation by rethinking processes and applying data analytics, automation, and cultural change management techniques
  • Using intentional design-thinking exercises to help senior leaders transcend conventional assumptions and established processes to envision a better, more relevant approach to finance
  • Aligning the global leadership team on a more collective and collaborative finance future state to replace Bayer’s existing top-down model
  • Outlining a sequenced 18-month roadmap of initiatives to achieve the vision. These initiatives were classed across four strategic pillars: Financial Steering, People, Digital/Technology, and Risk.

Above and beyond these items, our overarching goal was to convince finance leaders that transformation will not only make finance more relevant, but also make day-to-day work more rewarding for their teams. To succeed, senior managers need to become change leaders capable of driving large and small transformation actions that will combine to make a real difference to the organization.

3. Conclusions and planning phase

From quick wins to a detailed multiyear transformation plan

Following the session, KPMG delivered a debrief package summarizing our key themes, conclusions, and recommendations. Our main priority in this phase was to build on the enthusiasm created during the workshop and encourage the finance team to act quickly. To achieve this, our first suggestion for the team was to target more manageable projects that could produce real results as soon as possible. These “quick wins” (such as a rapidly deployed forecasting pilot) helped reinforce belief in the potential for wider transformation and showed that even small steps can deliver real results. 

A more detailed version of the transformation roadmap created at the end of the workshop was also delivered. Sequenced in three stages, each lasting six months, the revised plan would help the finance team identify interdependencies between initiatives, eliminate redundant work, and plan for cross-functional partnerships. Specific elements included:

  • Defining 67 unique initiatives spanning across all four strategic pillars
  • Sharing 21 individual and team commitments to help finance leaders maintain the momentum for change established in the workshop.

We also offered more general conclusions and recommendations based on our initial research and input from workshop attendees. Among them were the following:

  • Embrace a “one team” approach: Even before COVID-19-imposed travel restrictions, the BCS finance team often operated in siloes due to diverse geographies, differing functional responsibilities, and varying tenures among regional leaders. By the end of our workshop, the team realized that functioning as a single, more collaborative unit would be critical to future success.
  • Make change intentional, prioritized, and relevant: To overcome change fatigue, BCS must be judicious and intentional about change management. This requires using the leadership team and its communications to increase understanding of the program and initiatives.
  • Leverage data analytics and advanced automation: Historically, available technologies were not optimized for return on investment, and lack of automation added to workloads that were routine and unrewarding. Optimizing technology to make better use of data analytics and automation will help BCS focus on creating value and driving data-driven decisions and strategy.
  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and reporting standards: Defining and communicating KPIs for each strategic pillar in the transformation roadmap will be critical for setting targets and measuring progress.
  • Drive sustainable value: Empowering the BCS finance team to deliver sustainable value to the entire Bayer organization must be the driving force behind the transformation. All strategic initiatives and activities should be planned and executed with this goal in mind. The focus on value will also help the team to prioritize initiatives, resources, and capital.

4. Follow-up and initiatives phase

A continuing commitment to change

To help maintain momentum for the finance transformation, today KPMG is supporting BCS in the design and deployment of two important initiatives:

  • An Intelligent Forecasting pilot program that will automate Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) processes and enable faster, more relevant forecasts to the Bayer board of management. This pilot was executed only a few months after the Ignition workshop session—a much shorter timeframe than similar projects had previously required.
  • A dedicated Office of Finance Transformation to support BCS with the execution of the sequenced roadmap. Along with the Ignition team, this effort includes cross-functional involvement from KPMG Finance Transformation and Transformation Delivery professionals.

We have also proposed future initiatives to help BCS refine operating models, extend automation, enable data integration, and accelerate progress on the transformation roadmap.

Dare to dream big on transformation

KPMG Ignition helps clients envision creative, boundary-pushing solutions for business transformation—even when it means challenging internal obstacles and established practices. Learn how we use innovative design methods to tap into the power of people and possibilities at KPMG Ignition.

Read more

Meet the team that made the difference for BCS

Let’s talk about how we can help you think more boldly, embrace change, and apply technology for transformation.

Image of Brian Miske
Brian Miske
Principal, National Ignition Leader, KPMG US
Read bio
Image of Caroline Canning
Caroline Canning
Director, Lab Delivery, Innovation Lab, KPMG US
Read bio
Image of Brian Miske
Brian Miske
Principal, National Ignition Leader, KPMG US
Read bio
Image of Caroline Canning
Caroline Canning
Director, Lab Delivery, Innovation Lab, KPMG US
Read bio

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