CS-03 · Multi-entity attractions organization · accounting and reporting
Leading the conversion to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Moving the books to a modern cloud ERP and using the move to rebuild the reporting structure underneath them.
- Financial Systems & ERP
- Accounting & Controllership
- Finance Transformation
Business challenge
The organization needed to move its accounting operations to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central across multiple entities — without disrupting the close, payables, payroll, or reporting that the business depended on every month.
Why it mattered
An ERP conversion done as a lift-and-shift carries every historical workaround into the new system. Done well, it is the one moment when the chart of accounts, dimensions, and reporting structure can be put right at the source.
Approach
- Coordinated cross-functional teams across accounting, operations, and IT through design, testing, and cutover.
- Reviewed the chart of accounts and reporting dimensions so that departments and entities report consistently.
- Planned cutover around the close calendar, with reconciliations proving that balances and history carried across completely.
Solution
- Accounting operations running on Business Central across entities.
- A cleaner dimensional structure supporting departmental and consolidated reporting.
- Business Central API access to live accounting data, which later fed automated reporting, the budgeting platform, and automated journal entries.
Business impact
- Implementation completed with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.
- Reporting structure consistent enough to support automated management reporting downstream.
- Foundation for the analytics and budgeting work that followed.
Technology / methods
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- ERP implementation
- Chart-of-accounts design
- Financial dimensions
- Data migration & reconciliation
- Change management
- API integration
Lessons
A conversion is an accounting project that happens to involve software. The reconciliations are the real acceptance test.
Dimension design decisions made during cutover determine what management reporting can look like for years afterwards.
Generalized from professional experience. Organization details, figures, and system specifics are intentionally omitted.
Contact
Modernizing finance without loosening what makes it right?
I welcome conversations with finance leaders, executive recruiters, and organizations working on accounting, FP&A, and finance transformation.