Group consolidation: A smarter path to business insight

Finance teams everywhere know the story: group consolidation is a non-negotiable part of the month- or year-end process, but it’s rarely smooth. More regulations, expanding corporate structures, global operations, and accelerating business cycles all make it harder to “just get the numbers right.” Too often, consolidation is a stressful race against the clock, dominated by spreadsheets, manual checks, and last-minute surprises. But group consolidation shouldn’t just be a compliance afterthought. When done right, it’s a powerful engine for better business decisions, risk management, and growth.

In this post, we’ll explore why group consolidation matters more than ever, where organizations typically struggle, how leaders are using automation and AI to transform the process, and practical steps you can take—no matter where you’re starting from.

Beyond compliance: The strategic value of group consolidation

Group consolidation is often viewed through a compliance lens: necessary for producing accurate group financial statements, meeting local and international accounting standards, and satisfying external auditors. But the real strategic value lies in what consolidated data provides—mainly transparency, timely insights, and the ability to respond to change.

Today’s business leaders need answers fast. They want to understand not just the numbers, but the story behind them, across geographies, subsidiaries, and business lines. According to EY, Finance leaders now rank technology transformation as their top priority for the next three years, with a sharp focus on improving data quality, speed, and insight.

Recent research supports this idea. For example, the Business Partnering Institute’s “Finance 2035: Shaping the future” report notes that, despite growing digital investments, most organizations are still wrestling with fragmented data and slow, error-prone reporting cycles—leaving Finance teams unable to consistently deliver the actionable insights their organizations need.

In short: consolidation is about more than just closing the books. It’s the foundation for trust, agility, and confident decision-making.

Common pain points: Where most consolidation processes fall short

If group consolidation is so important, why is it still so painful? Across industries, a few common themes emerge:

• Manual data wrangling: Many organizations still rely on spreadsheets and email attachments to collect and consolidate financial data from different entities. According to recent research, nearly 40% of CFOs don’t completely trust the accuracy of their organization’s financial data.
• Disconnected systems: Subsidiaries may use different ERPs, charts of accounts, or reporting calendars, making it hard to create a single source of truth. According to Gartner, poor data quality costs organizations at least $12.9 million a year on average.
• Compliance risk: Errors or delays in consolidation aren’t just an internal headache—they’re a risk for regulatory fines, audit findings, and reputational damage. As reporting requirements grow more complex (think ESG, tax transparency, and local GAAP/IFRS compliance), the stakes only get higher.
• Lost business agility: Slow, rigid processes mean that by the time results are available, business conditions may have changed. This limits Finance’s ability to provide timely guidance or run what-if scenarios.
• Cash flow blind spots: Many teams focus on income statements and balance sheets but struggle to deliver reliable consolidated cash flow reporting—limiting insight into liquidity and working capital across the group.

The result? Delays, compliance risk, and missed opportunities for strategic input.

Understanding consolidated cash flow statements: Why they matter

A robust group consolidation process must go beyond the income statement and balance sheet to deliver a true group-level cash flow statement. This statement answers critical questions, such as:

• How much cash is the group actually generating?
• Where is cash coming from and going?
• Are there liquidity risks hiding beneath “healthy” P&L numbers?

For international groups, consolidated cash flow reporting is a powerful tool for scenario planning, treasury management, and responding to shocks. Yet building it is notoriously tough. It requires:

• Standardized classifications of cash flows (e.g., operating, investing, financing) across all entities
• Accurate elimination of intercompany cash movements
• Automated currency translation for global operations

Many modern solutions use rule-based automation to streamline these steps and provide real-time, transparent group-level cash flow statements. Companies that master this gain an early-warning system for risk and a stronger foundation for forecasting and capital allocation.

The six phases of group consolidation

To move from firefighting to strategic consolidation, organizations should structure the process into clear phases:

1. Data collection and validation

• Gather trial balances, adjustments, and supporting data from every entity
• Validate for completeness, consistency, and mapping to the group chart of accounts
• Automate data ingestion where possible to reduce manual work

2. Currency translation and harmonization

• Apply consistent exchange rates for all subsidiaries
• Harmonize accounting policies and reclassify as needed

3. Intercompany reconciliation and eliminations

• Match and eliminate intercompany sales, balances, and transactions
• Automate eliminations with defined rules to reduce reconciliation effort

4. Consolidation adjustments

• Record minority interests, non-controlling interests, and other group-level adjustments
• Review for compliance with relevant accounting standards (e.g., IFRS, GAAP)

5. Consolidated reporting and analysis

• Generate group-level financials: income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement
• Drill down to entity-level detail for audit trails and explanations
• Share interactive dashboards and reports with key stakeholders

6. Review, audit, and continuous improvement

• Maintain a full audit trail of all entries and changes
• Gather feedback, review close timelines, and automate repetitive steps in future cycles

How leading companies get consolidation right with Jedox: The Rommelag story

Rommelag, a global player in pharmaceutical packaging, struggled with classic challenges: complex legal structures, multi-currency reporting, and time-consuming manual eliminations. Their Finance team spent so much time consolidating data that there was little bandwidth left for value-added analysis or business partnering.

By implementing a modern consolidation platform like Jedox, Rommelag:

• Achieved a 4x faster consolidation process
• Reduced errors and audit queries for its 24 worldwide subsidiaries
• Achieved real-time visibility into group performance, including consolidated cash flows

As Rommelag’s CFO noted, “We finally have fast overviews of our subsidiaries worldwide. The data is now consistent and readily available at the click of a button.” Rommelag’s story demonstrates that with the right software and effective strategies, companies can improve their group consolidation processes and secure long-term success.

In the future, Rommelag plans to use Jedox not only for year-end consolidation but also for quarterly closings. Following the successful implementation of consolidation, the next step will be to use Jedox for liquidity planning, cash flow, profit and loss (P&L), and balance sheet planning.

Future-proofing consolidation: The rise of digital business partnering and xP&A

The future of consolidation isn’t just automation; it’s full integration with enterprise planning, scenario modeling, and cross-functional collaboration. The shift to extended planning and analysis (xP&A), where consolidation is tightly linked to forecasting, scenario planning, and operational data, is in the works. This creates a 360° view of performance, risk, and opportunity.

Driver-based models, digital twins, and AI-powered forecasting help teams simulate the impact of M&A, regulatory changes, or supply chain disruptions—all directly within the consolidation environment.

The result? Finance teams evolve into full digital business partners, moving from reporting “what happened” to shaping “what’s next.”

The Jedox FinCon solution: Group consolidation made easy

Jedox’s FinCon solution is designed specifically for modern, agile group consolidation. Built on the trusted Jedox platform, this solution enables organizations to:

• Automate data integration: Seamlessly pull financials from multiple ERPs, spreadsheets, and systems into a unified model
• Standardize and automate eliminations: Built-in logic handles intercompany transactions, currency translation, and non-controlling interests—reducing manual effort and risk
• Accelerate cash flow statement preparation: With full support for automated, accurate consolidated cash flow reporting
• Enhance transparency: Every step is tracked with robust audit trails, simplifying compliance and external audits
• Empower real-time analysis: Finance teams can drill down from group-level to entity-level detail, generate custom reports, and support business partnering
• Integrate with xP&A and scenario planning: Jedox’s open platform lets you connect consolidation with rolling forecasts, budgeting, and operational data—enabling true business agility

Jedox’s FinCon solution isn’t just about faster closes, it’s about giving Finance the clarity and time to lead.

From complexity to confidence: Take control of consolidation

Group consolidation is no longer just about compliance; it’s about providing the insight, agility, and control that modern organizations need to thrive. With a structured approach, the right technology, and a commitment to continuous improvement, your Finance team can transform consolidation from a painful chore into a true strategic asset.

Ready to rethink your group consolidation? Start small, focus on integration and automation, and choose tools that can grow with you. The payoff? Faster closes, better decisions, and a Finance team that leads with confidence. To dive even deeper into this topic, find out how to optimize your financial consolidation process here.