Rommelag accelerates consolidation of 24 subsidiaries worldwide

Rommelag is a group of independent subsidiaries that operate collectively under the brand name Rommelag. In the future, the group aims to consolidate as a legal entity under a holding company. However, there was no consolidation and control system in place for the entire group. The 24 subsidiaries were annually consolidated into four sub-groups using Excel, which proved to be time-consuming. Additionally, the individual spreadsheets lacked an overview of the group’s overall financial development.

“In the past, our shareholder group always received a complete overview of our group’s results relatively late. This led to investment decisions being made according to the 80/20 rule. Initially, we used Excel to gain an overview of our assets, financials, and income. However, Excel has its limitations, and the data quality was not consistent,” says Thomas Geiger, Chief Financial Officer at Rommelag.

Therefore, the central team sought a solution that could automate and accelerate the consolidation process. The software needed to seamlessly integrate with the group’s diverse systems and serve as a single source of truth. Jedox proved to be the optimal solution due to its powerful integration capabilities, allowing for easy consolidation of various data sources. The project leads also valued the platform’s ability to incorporate reporting and financial planning within the same system.

During the implementation, Rommelag received support from Jedox partner econio, which handled data integration and replicated the group’s financial statements in Jedox. The 2020 financial statements were modeled, and the 2021 financial statements were created within the system. In addition to legal consolidation based on the German Commercial Code (HGB), management consolidation of business areas, including automatic elimination of intercompany results, was implemented in Jedox.

Including the necessary preparations for individual financial statements, the implementation was completed in approximately six months. The Rommelag team highlights the valuable guidance provided by econio during the initial consolidation, which significantly contributed to quick implementation and internal knowledge building.

To consolidate subsidiary data, the data is uploaded via interfaces in Local GAAP. Finance teams at each site can then make HBII adjustments directly within Jedox and easily transmit the finalized data packages to the central team with a simple click of a button. Jedox integrates with the data sources of each subsidiary, such as CSS eGecko and Sage. This has replaced disconnected Excel spreadsheets that were used for different subgroups or years.

The next step involves implementing cash flow for liquidity planning, as well as P&L and balance sheet planning in Jedox. The Jedox Excel Add-in serves as the front-end for decentralized planning processes.

The consolidation process is now much faster and more transparent, thanks to automated data flows and process support within the system. In addition to annual financial statements, Rommelag plans to create quarterly financial statements.

Jedox provides the required comprehensive overview of all group figures, both in terms of legal consolidation and the operational management view of business areas. Rommelag places importance on cross-year and intra-year evaluations and analyses. With Jedox’s convenient export functions, individual reports can be generated at any time.

A significant advantage is access to real-time data for all stakeholders. To streamline operations, some processes have been decentralized to subsidiaries, allowing for easy data collection and input through web-based access. Reporting is now more efficient and based on consistent data, capable of adapting to new systems and accommodating additional subsidiaries as needed. In upcoming phases, Rommelag plans to integrate operational planning into Jedox.