Episode 03
Managing financial processes across regions and systems
Episode summary
In this episode of Controllers Classified, we’re joined by Daniel Hilli, Head of Business Control at Alstom. Alstom is a multinational company that builds and services trains and signaling systems. In fact, millions of people everyday are transported by Alstom trains and systems. Given the size of the company, this episode focuses on how to implement and manage financial processes across different regions and systems at scale. This includes dialogue around when to centralize vs. decentralize reporting and budgeting processes, how to find efficiencies through digitalization and tool consolidation, and the best way to build lines of communication across global teams.
Daniel also does a deep dive into Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier and the integration implications that followed - including how to bring together disparate teams and technology and how to gain a holistic financial picture of the business and its spend in a post-acquisition environment.
The conversation closes with how Daniel tackles long-term projects like ERP implementation - and general thoughts for how and when to leverage external solutions consultants for implementations.
Show notes
Intro/journey to success [1:15]
Interactions with departments at Alstom [6:10]
Structuring the finance department on a global scale [9:25]
Major acquisitions and implementations [17:20]
Identifying the top needs during an ERP implementation [26:12]
Controllers are fun too/close! [28:14]
Guest bio
Daniel Hilli, Head of Business Control at Alstrom
Based in Stockholm, Daniel Hilli is the Head of Business Control at Alstrom. He has 10+ years of experience driving successful business operations and enhancing corporate productivity. Daniel possesses a wide range of knowledge and experience, from overseeing variable and fixed operations and cutting operational costs to spearheading staff hiring / coaching and implementing new programmes and process improvements.
“We have a lot of systems everywhere. And then the question is, how do you do some kind of amalgamation there? How do you now streamline this?”
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