Example Reflection – Visualization

Challenge

I am a consultant providing interim financial assistance primarily to Fortune 1000 companies during  critical times of need.  My responsibilities include, but are not limited to, accounting assistance, financial  reporting and analysis, accounting research, internal auditing, divestiture support, and special project  implementation. I am currently aiding the implementing of new accounting consolidation software at  my client.

Selection

To successfully manage the implementation of new accounting software consolidation, I must think  outside the box to transform this complex issue into a practical solution.  The most effective way for me  to communicate is through visualization.

Application

The first step in my process was gathering as much data about the organizational structure that I could  find so I could gain an understanding of the parent company and all of its subsidiaries, which entities  were doing business with one another, and if we needed to eliminate these transactions during the  consolidation process.  Once I was done gathering all of this data, I found that there were over thirty  entities that consolidate into the parent.  Each company can easily be identified by a four-digit number.

I worked with the legal team to gain an understanding of the business structure.  I worked with the  accounting department to understand how they were recording transactions between related parties  and how they expected the consolidation software to work.  I also worked with the IT department to  understand their design and logic for the consolidation software.

Once I had a good understanding of what needed to be accomplished, I put together a flowchart of how  I believed the company wanted the consolidation software to work.  I showed the hierarchy of the  parent company at the highest level and then all of the subsidiaries with their four-digit identifier and  eliminating entities below.  I scheduled a meeting with accounting and IT and we walked through my  flowchart in detail to understand exactly how the consolidation software needed to be designed. We are  currently still in the design phase and will move forward with testing in a few weeks.

Insight

During the information collecting gathering phases I quickly realized that I was getting lost in the detail  and couldn’t remember the organizational structure so that’s when I turned to visualization.  As I was  having conversations with different business units I was taking notes and using the four-digit numbers to  map a hierarchy of the business and eventually designed the flowchart for the company.

Approach

I learned that visualization was the best tool to use for this project and without putting together a  flowchart I do not think this would have been a successful design.  During the testing phase of this  project I will be incorporating what I learned from the learning launch module to this project.


Example Reflection – Visualization Challenge I am a consultant providing interim financial assistance primarily to Fortune 1000 companies during critical times of need . My responsibilities include , but are not limited to , accounting assistance , financial reporting and analysis , accounting research , internal auditing , divestiture support , and special project implementation . I am currently aiding the implementing of new accounting consolidation software at my client . Selection To successfully manage the implementation of new accounting software consolidation , I must think outside the box to transform this complex issue into a practical solution . The most effective way for me to communicate is through visualization . Application The first step in my process was gathering as much data about the organizational structure that I could find so I could gain an understanding of the parent company and all of its subsidiaries , which entities were doing business with one another , and if we needed to eliminate these transactions during the consolidation process . Once I was done gathering all of this data , I found that there were over thirty entities that consolidate into the parent . Each company can easily be identified by a four - digit number . I worked with the legal team to gain an understanding of the business structure . I worked with the accounting department to understand how they were recording transactions between related parties and how they expected the consolidation software to work . I also worked with the IT department to understand their design and logic for the consolidation software . Once I had a good understanding of what needed to be accomplished , I put together a flowchart of how I believed the company wanted the consolidation software to work . I showed the hierarchy of the parent company at the highest level and then all of the subsidiaries with their four - digit identifier and eliminating entities below . I scheduled a meeting with accounting and IT and we walked through my flowchart in detail to understand exactly how the consolidation software needed to be designed . We are currently still in the design phase and will move forward with testing in a few weeks . Insight During the information collecting gathering phases I quickly realized that I was getting lost in the detail and could n’t remember the organizational structure so that ’s when I turned to visualization . As I was having conversations with different business units I was taking notes and using the four - digit numbers to map a hierarchy of the business and eventually designed the flowchart for the company . Approach I learned that visualization was the best tool to use for this project and without putting together a flowchart I do not think this would have been a successful design . During the testing phase of this project I will be incorporating what I learned from the learning launch module to this project .