The challenges

In the pursuit of enhancing operational efficiency and adaptability, our client embarked on a significant global business transformation initiative. Central to this endeavour was the adoption of a modern target operating model, supported by the implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, SAP S/4HANA, across multiple countries. This transition became a unique opportunity for the organization to standardize and optimize processes and for the Internal Control team to optimize controls. 

Moving from standalone controls across legacy systems spread across numerous countries, debatable level of data quality, exacerbated by a lack of time by the key business people on the ground, a lack of awareness of control requirements by the business and impact on their day to day lives. The data migration was particularly challenging.

Navigating through the complexities of the company’s existing setup and future objectives presented exciting challenges. Ensuring the accuracy and completeness of data and other “one-time-controls" during migration became a focal point, as they sought to consolidate legacy systems into a unified SAP S/4HANA platform. 

The approach

The enterprise chose to collaborate closely with a team of PwC experts spanning multiple countries, with a singular objective: to support the transformation programme in ensuring completeness and accuracy of the migrated data and support the audit readiness when external auditors arrived. Fully embedded within the project, PwC assisted in defining the approach, templates, training, provided coaching, and executed key controls over data migration to satisfy external auditors' requirements. 

Leveraging PwC's expertise, it was possible for our client to obtain not only audit and technical support during the project but also to drive good conversations with the external auditors. This helped to align and anticipate on the auditors’ expectations, keep the scope reasonable to ultimately avoid surprises and reduce costs. 

Automation played a pivotal role, enhancing efficiency and accuracy through advanced data science and analytics software. Meticulous data validation and thorough documentation review ensured compliance and clarity throughout the migration process. Collaboration with PwC experts from various countries enriched the project with diverse insights and experience, ensuring a holistic transformation approach.

The conclusion

The rigorous and focused testing efforts applied during this joint venture with our client’s internal control and PwC humbly contributed to the success of the transformation programme, securing the value of the investment. Through independent quality assessment and meticulous validation of data migration, with the support of PwC they ensured the audit readiness and compliance of the new system. 

Standardized data migration one-time-control procedures and documentation, empowered by automated workflows, significantly enhanced efficiency and accuracy of the data migration, while reducing manual validation efforts. This joint engagement between the company’s Internal Control organization and PwC serves as a testament to how technical expertise and audit experience can empower large-scale clients to effectively navigate future challenges.