The short story of Zealand Pharma A/S
Zealand Pharma is a Danish biotechnology company, dual-listed in Denmark and the USA.
The company was founded in 1998 to discover, design, and develop innovative peptide-based medicines and has a portfolio of medicines and product candidates, including license collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim. The Group has seven subsidiaries and employs more than 300 people in Denmark and the US.
The Group became a Konsolidator customer in 2020.
60% FASTER
FINANCIAL CONSOLIDATION
REGAINED 3 FULL DAYS
EVERY QUARTER
Zealand Pharma needed a system to structure data and assure maximum data quality
It is 7 am, and the phone rings. Your colleague is calling to ask why your group’s consolidated financial data suddenly has changed a couple of hours before the deadline. You reply that you have no idea since you didn’t make changes in the spreadsheet. Actually, you have no idea who has edited it or what has been edited.
Vice President of Finance Mikael Juhl and Finance Director Lykke Rømer often found themselves in this exact situation. Their finance team faced one of the most common problems with their 18 tabs long Excel file:
Everyone with access could edit it. And they were not able to see who or what the edits were. Suddenly a formula was gone, a note added, or an extra column or line was put in and messed up the order of something else in the file. Working in Excel meant a lot of time spent checking for errors, data tracking, and correct formulas. As a listed company, Zealand Pharma could not tolerate the uncertainty and lack of transparency. To ensure compliance with SOX (U.S. law meant to protect investors from fraudulent accounting activities by corporations), they found it too risky to continue using Excel for the group consolidation.
Therefore, Mikael Juhl and Lykke Rømer decided to implement Konsolidator.
Reported Gains
⇒ Quality assurance, transparency, and documentation
⇒ Compliance with the requirement of SOX
⇒ Reduced consolidation time – from 5- to 2 working days
⇒ Transparent and efficient processes where everything is logged
⇒ Easy quarterly auditor approval
An efficient, transparent, and compliant consolidation process
Zealand Pharma can now check off the extensive list of demands concerning SOX compliance. Numbers and formulas cannot change without the financial team knowing it, and they can also see who, what and why numbers are being edited. There is no longer the same risk of errors which compliant-wise has been an enormous plus to Zealand Pharma
“Our problem was that we, as a group, were too big for using Excel and too small for buying more complex consolidation software. Here is where Konsolidator fitted perfectly with our needs.” – Mikael Juhl.
Now Mikael and Lykke can control access and rights to the data in Konsolidator. Additionally, they have a system that provides them with an entire audit trail, automatic error spotting and processes, like intercompany eliminations, translating currencies, and creating a cash flow.
“It has become a more transparent process because data is traceable. This has made us work more efficiently.” – Lykke Rømer, Finance Director, Zealand Pharma.
TIP
Cloud-based tools integrate well with most tools. For instance, create insightful and good-looking reports with your favorite reporting tool on top of konsolidator.
The advantages of using a cloud-based tool for financial consolidation
Because the financial team at Zealand Pharma is using Konsolidators cloud software, it is easy to use it in connection with other systems in the IT infrastructure at the finance department.
In addition, they get all the benefits of using a cloud tool:
- No time spent on maintenance
- Always have the latest version of the software
- Back up is handled by the supplier
- Lower than a customized CPM system
“We love that Konsolidator is cloud! We both come from jobs where have worked intensively to optimize processes and security for customers, and you just do that better with an online system” – Lykke Rømer.
“In terms of safety and control, cloud software is also a big advantage for us. We buy a service and do not have to deal with maintenance or security issues. We just pay the monthly subscription, and then everything else is taken care of for us by Konsolidator, and they this really well.” – Mikael Juhl.