Barrick Gold: Unifying Financial Consolidation, Planning & Reporting with OneStream and Ascend Partners

Changing Financial Planning and Consolidation platforms can be a challenging and daunting undertaking. But when an existing platform can no longer deliver on corporate and business needs, it becomes a decision to either continue with declining value and increased time and effort or look for a new solution. When that new solution belongs to OneStream, the global leader in corporate performance management, and is implemented by Ascend Partners, a Diamond-level partner, the decision becomes much clearer.

Barrick Gold was facing just such a decision. Mining is a complex industry, and Barrick Gold Corporation is no exception. As a leader in the mining industry, Barrick produces gold and copper in 13 different countries with a total of 16 operational sites. In total, Barrick comprises over 400 legal entities. As a result, the demands they place on their financial software are also highly complex.

The Challenge: Getting Quick Access to Complex Financial Data

The price of commodities like gold and copper are constantly fluctuating. Because they conduct business with these commodities in numerous countries, Barrick needs to be able to consolidate their financial data in different ways. Their investors need access to financial data every month, and they need that information fast. Closing the books often in order to pull those numbers using disparate systems was time-consuming and impacted time to value.

When it comes to financial reporting, Barrick reports at the group consolidation level in USD and under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In some tax jurisdictions, Barrick also must report to the local tax authorities meeting the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Barrick Gold was using Hyperion Financial Management and Hyperion Planning to manage its financial data. However, as the company grew and gained acquisitions, the demands placed on their software also grew. Hyperion was falling short and presented them with limitations when moving data between disconnected applications.

Part of the challenge with the current platform was the need to use multiple point solutions for Barrick’s consolidation and planning. This method of handling data and planning was becoming more and more complicated and difficult to maintain. The process of maintaining multiple applications was slow and complicated. Not to mention, reconciling two systems didn’t bring in any additional value for the work it required.

Upgrade or Migrate?

Upgrading Hyperion and staying with the system initially appeared as the less risky move. However, the team at Barrick was contemplating converting to OneStream, the leader in intelligent finance platforms built for modern enterprises. They understood that this transition could drastically improve their workflow - saving time and improving efficiencies as the platform allows users to unify financial consolidation, reporting, planning, and analytics through a single, extensible technology platform.

Switching platforms is a huge commitment, so to make sure that the platform would meet their needs, Barrick set up a Q & A between Barrick’s Hyperion users and OneStream. During this meeting, the team at Barrick realized that making the switch to OneStream would alleviate many of the pain points they were currently experiencing. The capabilities of OneStream were far beyond those of their current software systems and would eliminate the need for multiple point solutions.

Implementing a new platform can be a time-consuming endeavor and the Barrick team knew that they would need an experienced partner to manage the project and deliver the solution within a reasonable timeframe. Meeting with the team at Ascend Partners helped alleviate this concern for Barrick Gold and sealed the deal. Ascend’s sophisticated implementation process makes the transition seamless and logical. Ascend was able to implement OneStream in a matter of months. 

OneStream & The Ascend Advantage

At Ascend, we work with companies and organizations to implement OneStream with the intent of making the transition as easy as possible. We’re experts in OneStream and work exclusively with the platform. We configure OneStream to meet each company's unique needs and work alongside your team to create better training and learning opportunities, faster launches of your new system, and immediate realization of the benefits of OneStream’s Intelligent Finance platform.

We start with a pre-built master application as a foundation to accelerate the implementation and to minimize disruptions. We have also developed a structured framework and standardized tools and templates that streamline the design process and remove a lot of the extra thought processes for companies switching to OneStream.

Our implementation process starts with a project lead who is an accountant or a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) expert. Next, developers are layered into the project as needed. The entire implementation process is managed in-house. 

The Results Are In

After implementing OneStream, Barrick Gold gained several capabilities when handling their data. With OneStream, they can now pull financial data whenever they need to without closing the books to get those numbers. OneStream is so effective because you only need to build the data once. The extendible dimensionality of the metadata allows companies to align the data under multiple business units and processes simultaneously. 

These processes are exactly what a company with complex financial data needs. When you eliminate the need to build out the data multiple times on different platforms, there’s less risk of human error or technical debts. Plus, you have access to your financial data in real-time. No need to close the books to pull numbers. 

With OneStream, companies also gain access to the plethora of tools that OneStream offers, including productivity tools, data entry, financial reporting, account reconciliations, transaction matching, and much more. The platform allows companies to take what’s useful and leave what isn’t. This way, companies can focus on meaningful tools without cluttering their system.

It’s been a year since Barrick Gold completed their Financial Consolidation & Reporting implementation on the OneStream Intelligent Finance platform with Ascend’s expert help. In that time, they’ve reported improved engagement between the operational sites and the corporate office. Because the workflow setups are easier to access, it’s easier for everyone to see what’s going on and who made changes. The reduction of business silos has created a simplified workflow for everyone.

Looking For Ways To Improve Your Time to Value?

If you’re interested in learning more about the Ascend advantage and how we can help your company, we would love to talk. We’ll set up a meeting to determine your needs and customize your OneStream implementation.