Lindsay Corp – A OneStream Success Story

With its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, Lindsay Corporation manufactures and markets irrigation equipment primarily used in agricultural markets which increase or stabilize crop production while conserving water, energy, and labor.

As a global company with multiple business units, reliance on Excel spreadsheets and their Microsoft Dynamics Navision general ledger (GL) for financial consolidation, reporting, budgeting and forecasting was no longer sufficient.

These critical financial processes relied on manual efforts and took too long. Finance executives didn’t have visibility into the right level of operational detail, or impacts of currency rates on their financial results.

Getting through the monthly financial close, forecast updates and preparation for monthly business reviews using their existing tools and processes required a full two weeks – delaying delivery of management information and review of business performance. Business unit (BU) Controllers were spending too much time on data manipulation and not enough on analysis and supporting decision-making. It was time for a change.

With a preference towards cloud applications, the company evaluated Oracle’s EPM Cloud applications along with OneStream Software’s unified platform.

“OneStream was a better choice for us,” said Brian Ketcham, VP and Chief Financial Officer at the manufacturer. “OneStream’s unified approach would be easier to maintain, easier to upgrade, and provide a lower TCO vs. Oracle. Plus, the OneStream team did a great job demonstrating the solution, and ensuring the the manufacturer team they could capture our financial results at the right level of detail.”

Lindsay Corp’s OneStream implementation began with financial consolidations and reporting of actual financial results. They also use the platform for budgeting and monthly forecasting. OneStream’s unified SmartCPM™ platform is used to collect and consolidate data from 20 different GLs, with eight currencies, and different charts of accounts being mapped to OneStream.

With a high volume of intercompany transactions, responsibility for reconciling intercompany accounts is now pushed to the BU level vs. corporate. This approach provides more ownership and accountability at the BU level, eliminating the numerous back-and-forth communications that previously existed between corporate and the BUs.

Shortening the Close, Improving Visibility

“The OneStream solution has given us the capability to wrap up the monthly close process by day five,” said Brian Ketcham, VP and CFO at the manufacturer. “This has enabled faster management reporting and more agile decision-making. We were spending too much time reconciling data. We now have time for value-add analysis versus spending time updating spreadsheets. Additionally, Business Units now get their data right away and don’t have to wait until the corporate results are finalized.”

“The company has also seen improved data integrity and workflows from a SOX compliance standpoint,” said Ketcham. “OneStream has given us one version of the truth and a consistency we were lacking in our previous environment. Management reporting has improved, giving the Finance team more time for analysis, and the capability to drill down to greater detail when analyzing results across BUs.”

Streamlining Budgeting and Forecasting

Lindsay Corp uses OneStream’s unified platform and the same application as actuals to support annual budgeting and monthly forecasting. Actuals coexist with Budget and Forecast scenarios for instant variance analysis and a streamlined process.

“Thanks to the unified approach, we are also saving at least two days per month on forecasting,” says Ketcham. “That’s just another way we are extending the value of our OneStream investment.”

Extending Dimensions and the Platform for More Value

Lindsay Corp uses OneStream’s Extensible Dimensionality to capture more operationally relevant reporting detail. This enables customers to view results by region, product line, and customer segment. Moreover, this provides enhanced visibility into sales and operating margins across various business lines. Additionally, the manufacturer has greater agility in adapting to business changes quickly and easily.

In the next phase of implementation, Lindsay Corp plans to deploy the Account Reconciliations solution from the OneStream Marketplace. the manufacturer is also evaluating OneStream’s Thing Planning solution as an option for weekly cash forecasting and people planning.

About Tevpro

Tevpro is a proud implementation partner of OneStream Software.

We provide implementation support and technical guidance for all major EPM vendors—including Oracle, OneStream, and Anaplan—to automate and optimize your business processes, and make your work simpler and more efficient.

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