# From Excel-based systems to automated consolidation and data integration Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2018-02-24 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: How EOH Big Bus Tours Achieved Financial Efficiency Meta Description: Learn how London-based Big Bus Tours streamlined their finance system for better consolidation, reporting, and forecasting. Discover more! URL: https://financedigest.com/from-excel-based-systems-to-automated-consolidation-and-data-integrationhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/fd240218-1-2-1736842969677-compressed.jpg) By **Kirit Patel**, Regional Managing Director (UK & Europe), [EOH](http://www.eoh.uk.com/) _Big Bus Tours’ roadmap to financial efficiency_ [![Kirit Patel](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/kirit-patel-450x450-1736842969724-compressed.jpg)](https://www.financedigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kirit-patel.jpg) Kirit Patel London-based Big Bus Tours is the largest operator of open-top sightseeing tours in the world, providing sightseeing tours in 19 cities across three continents.The company was formed in 2011 by the merger of two established sightseeing tour businesses: The Big Bus Company Ltd (based in London) and Les Cars Rouges (based in Paris). The [company’s business](https://www.financedigest.com/truic-evaluates-the-biggest-business-incorporation-companies-in-the-us.html "TRUiC Evaluates The Biggest Business Incorporation Companies in The US") model is designed to provide a flexible approach to city discovery. Each tour provides a hop-on, hop-off facility at a variety of locations, while the company [creates opportunities for incremental](https://www.financedigest.com/tire-materials-market-to-create-an-incremental-opportunity-of-us-99-99-bn-by-the-end-of-2028-fmi.html "Tire Materials Market to create an incremental opportunity of US$ 99.99 Bn by the end of 2028 – FMI") sales by providing additional, optional experiences while each tour is underway. However, that flexibility wasn’t always being matched by the [company’s Excel-based finance systems](https://www.financedigest.com/automated-liquid-handling-systems-market-global-leading-companies-analysis-revenue-trends-and-forecasts-2027.html "Automated Liquid Handling Systems Market Global Leading Companies Analysis, Revenue, Trends and Forecasts 2027"). With over 40 legal reporting entities across multiple jurisdictions, consolidation of results at month-end had become complex and time-consuming– “A process of cobbling together 20-plus spreadsheets every [month to deliver our report](https://www.financedigest.com/whatsapp-bans-2-4-million-indian-accounts-in-july-monthly-report.html "WhatsApp bans 2.4 million Indian accounts in July – monthly report") to the board,” said David Stafford, Group Financial Director for Big Bus. “We needed a way to simplify consolidation and speed things up, and get rid of any [need to chase people](https://www.financedigest.com/britain-says-6000-more-people-needed-for-trial-of-merck-covid-pill.html "Britain says 6,000 more people needed for trial of Merck COVID pill") or interrogate data closely for entry errors.” Stafford also wanted to integrate data from the company’s handheld point-of-sale system into the finance system and generate a daily flash report based on sales tallies and [passenger numbers](https://www.financedigest.com/ryanair-passenger-numbers-rise-in-august-to-11-1-million.html "Ryanair passenger numbers rise in August to 11.1 million") collected on the PoS server. Big Bus had also been looking for a [way to capture non-financial information on local factors that had a direct impact](https://www.financedigest.com/four-ways-impact-acts-as-a-source-of-value-for-startups-and-investors.html "Four ways impact acts as a source of value for startups and investors") on sales or could help show daily results in context; for example, local weather and traffic reports. If a workable system could be created for data collection the next step would be to integrate the non-financial metrics in a manner that would [aid forecasting](https://www.financedigest.com/infant-positioning-aids-market-application-trends-growth-opportunities-and-worldwide-forecast-to-2027.html "Infant Positioning Aids Market Application, Trends, Growth, Opportunities and Worldwide Forecast to 2027") and improve the foreseeability of sales outcomes. “Running our consolidation and reporting processes off Excel was do-able, but time-consuming. And the [system and processes](https://www.financedigest.com/persistence-innovation-to-replenish-the-tissue-processing-system-market.html "Persistence Innovation To Replenish The Tissue Processing System Market") we’d developed wouldn’t allow us to easily capture or integrate different kinds of data.We also struggled to drill-down into any of the data once we had captured it,” said Stafford. As a growing global business, Stafford and his [team needed to respond to the growing](https://www.financedigest.com/the-digital-voice-adtech-pr-agency-grows-team-by-eight.html "The Digital Voice Adtech PR Agency Grows Team By Eight") corporate appetite for insights on which to base business decisions. “We really felt like we had reached the limits of what we could do with spreadsheets,” adds Stafford. “We needed a solution that would allow us to capture and integrate all the [data types that were of interest to us, and then make its straightforward to analyse that data and share](https://www.financedigest.com/how-data-sharing-can-give-brands-confidence.html "How data sharing can give brands confidence") it internally.” **A flexible [finance system for a flexible business](https://www.financedigest.com/is-it-risky-to-use-bridging-finance-for-my-business.html "Is it risky to use bridging finance for my business?") model** The practicalities of Big Bus business meant that the system would need to be able to gather and consolidate data from a number of geographically diverse subsidiaries in multiple currencies, expedite the reconciliation process, allow the input of non-financial information, while integrate PoS sales data to provide sophisticated group monthly management information. It would also need to ensure input controls that would guarantee the validity of submissions. As spreadsheets could not provide a scalable financial reporting, consolidation and [analysis capability for the business](https://www.financedigest.com/albumin-market-in-depth-analysis-business-strategies-and-growth-rate.html "Albumin Market In-depth Analysis, Business Strategies, and Growth Rate"), an objective was set to automate as much of the consolidation and data integration process as possible. For non-financial [data capture it was determined that a bespoke solution might](https://www.financedigest.com/your-money-is-safe-but-your-data-might-not-be.html "YOUR MONEY IS SAFE, BUT YOUR DATA MIGHT NOT BE") also be needed. The ultimate aim would be to produce a consistent version of the truth that provided the basis for more frequent [reporting with additional sales detail](https://www.financedigest.com/chromoendoscopy-agents-market-2031-report-details-the-future-development-manufacturers-trends-share-size-and-forecast.html "Chromoendoscopy Agents Market 2031 Report Details the Future Development, Manufacturers, Trends, Share, Size and Forecast") and contextual information around results. That pointed to [investment in an enterprise resource planning](https://www.financedigest.com/samsung-elec-breaks-ground-on-new-chip-rd-centre-plans-15-billion-investment-by-2028.html "Samsung Elec breaks ground on new chip R&D centre, plans billion investment by 2028") (ERP) solution. Big Bus followed a rigorous [product selection process](https://www.financedigest.com/how-process-automation-increases-productivity-in-the-insurance-sector-while-giving-employees-room-for-more-high-value-activity.html "How Process Automation increases productivity in the insurance sector while giving employees room for more high value activity"). The [list of vendors was whittled down by capabilities and SAP BPC moved](https://www.financedigest.com/sport-ronaldo-tops-forbes-highest-paid-athletes-list-in-2023-after-saudi-move.html "Sport-Ronaldo tops Forbes’ highest-paid athletes list in 2023 after Saudi move") to first place, with EOH UK as the preferred implementation partner. The chosen Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)solution delivers planning, budgeting, forecasting, and financial consolidation capabilities in a single [application](https://www.financedigest.com/how-application-management-can-help-tackle-the-finance-industrys-carbon-emissions.html "How application management can help tackle the finance industry’s carbon emissions"). It enables finance teams to speed-up [budget and closing cycles and can help them make better decisions based on what-if analyses and scenario planning](https://www.financedigest.com/how-financial-planning-starts-with-a-new-approach-to-budgeting-and-forecasting.html "How financial planning starts with a new approach to budgeting and forecasting"). The solution is also flexible enough to handle multiple [data formats and integrate them intelligently for analytics](https://www.financedigest.com/the-importance-of-data-analytics-for-success.html "The Importance of Data Analytics For Success "). The implementation partner was able to write the integration scripts for the [PoS system](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-use-a-pos-system-to-run-your-business.html "How To Use A POS System To Run Your Business?") data and create input templates for Big Bus city managers, allowingthe capture of non-financial data in a consistent format for reporting and analysis. They also managed the [company’s steering group for the implementation](https://www.financedigest.com/why-are-companies-implementing-crypto-payments.html "Why are companies implementing crypto payments?"). “With EOH we had consultants who were both seasoned and highly intelligent,” said David Stafford. “They also had backgrounds in accounting as well as IT. When a vendor understands your professional as well as technical requirements immediately, dealing with any challenges is much more straightforward.” **The results** With the new software in place, Stafford and his team are saving a full day on consolidation at month-end. he old Excel-based [systems have been fully replaced and daily and weekly reports to the board have now been automated](https://www.financedigest.com/test-automation-systems-for-powertrain-dynamometer-market-to-reach-worth-of-us-1-20-bn-by-2031-tmr-insights.html "Test Automation Systems for Powertrain Dynamometer Market to reach worth of US$ 1.20 Bn by 2031, TMR Insights"). The weekly report, which formerly took 1.5 days to complete, now takes a little over an hour. Implementation of the systems and templates took under three months. [Big Bus finance team was able to learn the systems with minimal training and start using them in a matter of weeks](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-edges-up-but-on-track-for-big-weekly-drop-on-supply-concerns.html "Oil edges up but on track for big weekly drop on supply concerns"). The company’s office of finance now has one reliable version of the truth. Stafford and his team can execute monthly consolidation quickly and deliver clear information and better business insights to the company’s board. **Wrapping it all up** The BPC system has enabled Big Bus to significantly save [time and to report](https://www.financedigest.com/credit-suisse-executives-reassure-investors-after-cds-spike-financial-times-reports.html "Credit Suisse executives reassure investors after CDS spike, Financial Times reports") more insightful results thanks to new, contextual information. The implementation partner has left Big Bus with everything they need to make themselves self-sufficient on the system, giving them the knowledge they needed to configure and manage things themselves and a new-found confidence in reporting and analysis for [board level](https://www.financedigest.com/electronic-board-level-underfill-and-encapsulation-material-market-to-expand-at-a-cagr-of-5-5-by-during-the-forecast-period-of-2020-2030.html "Electronic Board Level Underfill And Encapsulation Material Market to expand at a CAGR of 5.5% by during the forecast period of 2020-2030") decision-making, and helping them become more visionary with the use of technology. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---