Consolidation Workflow Cockpit — Status That Speeds the Close
Make status a click, not a meeting (cape still optional).
Most closes slow down not for lack of effort but lack of visibility. Teams chase updates in emails, approvals hide in threads, and exceptions surface when time is gone. A workflow cockpit changes the game: one place to see who owes what by when, filtered by materiality and ageing. You’ll define tiles that matter, nudge late owners, and turn reviews into decisions. By the end of this guide, you’ll know the minimal set of lanes, rules, and KPIs needed so the cockpit shortens the close instead of decorating it.
Day-in-the-life: chaos → cockpit
Before: You’re five meetings deep, still asking “Who’s late?” Photos of spreadsheets appear as “proof.” Intercompany (IC) mismatches surface at 23:58. Rate packs are “the latest” (which one?).
After: The cockpit shows tiles by entity and task: Late, Aged >3 days, Material exceptions. Owners and SLAs are visible. Nudges go automatically. A Day −2 dry-run variance tile highlights movements to fix before Day 0. Meetings shorten; progress accelerates (tea remains).
So what? Status becomes self-serve, so time shifts from chasing to resolving.
Essential tiles & rules (table)
| Tile | Rule | Owner & nudge |
|---|---|---|
| Entity submissions | Not submitted by SLA | Controller; auto-reminder + escalation |
| Validations failed | Hard fails >0 or soft > materiality | Entity finance; block posting until cleared |
| IC breaks | Pairs outside tolerance | Pair owners; route to dispute lane |
| Rate pack | Pack not stamped by Day −2 | Treasury; publish + archive |
| Dry-run variance | Δ dry-run vs final > threshold | Group; investigate root causes |
So what? Five tiles cover 80% of “why are we late?”
Before vs After: five switches
- Email chase → auto-nudges by owner and ageing.
- All-hands calls → 15-minute exceptions huddle (three metrics).
- Subjective priorities → materiality bands per entity.
- Hidden approvals → in-tool sign-off with timestamps.
- Slide status → live tiles linked to tasks, journals, and notes.
So what? Less noise, more progress.
Pitfalls → fixes
Pitfall: 20+ tiles no one opens.
Fix: Start with five; add only when a recurring question lacks a tile.
Pitfall: Validations that cry wolf.
Fix: Tier checks; review false positives monthly.
Pitfall: Nudges without teeth.
Fix: Escalate by ageing; publish nudged SLA.
So what? Guardrails keep the cockpit useful, not ornamental.
How CCH Tagetik Powers the Cockpit (Status with Teeth)
Cockpits only help if they bite gently: tasks with owners, checks that block the wrong things (not everything), and nudges that arrive before the “Are we late?” meeting. CCH Tagetik wires those rails together—entity tasks, validations, intercompany (IC) matching, stamped FX packs, and journal approvals—so status moves from slideshow to single source. You still make the judgement calls; the system just stops the scavenger hunt (and the heroics).
| Cockpit tile | Platform capability | Outcome (aka why CFOs smile) |
|---|---|---|
| Entity submissions | Workflow tasks with SLAs & owners | Fewer chase calls; on-time % climbs |
| Validations failed | Data quality rules at load (hard/soft) | Bad data blocked early; reviews stay sane |
| IC breaks | Counterparty matching + dispute lanes | Fewer Day-0 surprises; evidence travels |
| Rate pack | Stamped FX pack with publish/expiry | One rate story; CTA explains itself |
| Dry-run variance | Snapshot compare & variance thresholds | Fix movements before Day 0 (wine stays chilled) |
Practical tips (with dry wit):
- Set materiality by entity, not by vibe—bands more popular than boy bands (internally).
- Escalate by ageing, not volume—one polite nudge beats twelve reply-alls.
- Schedule the Day −2 snapshot and measure Δ to final; vintage is great for wine, not outlooks.
- Make “no proof, no post” a rule, not a memo—attachments or it didn’t happen.
- Cap tiles at five; if a recurring question has no tile, add one (slowly).
So what? Configure the rails once and the cockpit does the heavy lifting—status becomes a click, meetings get shorter, and finance humour returns to safe levels.
Metric that matters
Median time-to-green for late tiles (target trend ↓) paired with Δ dry-run vs final. If time-to-green falls and variance shrinks, your cockpit is earning its keep.
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