CHALLENGE:
Outgrowing legacy systems and unifying acquisitions
Stagwell had outgrown its financial consolidation and reporting tool. As the organization expanded, the tool’s limitations became apparent, and they were receiving no new updates or active support. The tool had also been discontinued, and Stagwell did not want to turn to its cloud solution owing to its limited features. While trying to decide between swapping an enterprise system or recruiting for a skillset gap in the existing tool, they switched to Excel. Unfortunately, using Excel posed auditing challenges, creating risks around compliance and investor confidence. Relying on Excel also made transparency and data quality more difficult.
As a public company, Stagwell urgently needed a more robust, scalable platform, not just to replace outdated tools but also to support a growing portfolio of companies, each of whom operated on different technologies. They required a unified solution that could bring structure, automation, and consistency to their financial operations while accommodating future growth and complexity.
SOLUTION:
Building the foundation for financial transformation
To support Stagwell’s evolving financial operations, we focused initially on streamlining their financial close and consolidation processes. With limited documentation available, the team collaborated closely with key accounting stakeholders to define and configure metadata, mapping rules, business logic, and validation rules.
The solution included the configuration of workflows to support month-to-date, quarter-to-date, and year-to-date processes. We then integrated these workflows with OneStream’s Task Manager, which replaced manual Excel tracking with real-time status updates, automated email reminders, and clear accountability metrics. This allowed both corporate and agency teams to operate on a unified platform, significantly improving visibility and timeliness in financial reporting.
To support multi-currency reporting, we implemented constant currency logic and loaded historical actuals for FY22 through FY24 into the system. This not only enabled immediate reporting but also established a repeatable process for loading future years, such as FY25 and beyond. Additionally, Spaulding Ridge deployed the application control manager (ACM) extension to centralize and control metadata and financial data changes. This eliminated email chains, introduced formal approval workflows, and provided audit-ready reporting on all approved changes.
Analytical reporting also saw a major transformation. Previously managed through error-prone Excel models, our system migrated reports into OneStream, leveraging the platform’s account hierarchy and automation capabilities. This shift reduced audit delays, eliminated formula errors, and allowed accounting teams to focus on insights rather than Excel maintenance. Audit teams now assess materiality and activity systematically through cube views, reducing review cycles from weeks to hours
As Stagwell continues to grow, the solution is designed to support scalability. New acquisitions, often operating on legacy ERP systems, are now onboarded through standardized workflows, security groups, and pro forma reporting templates. Opening balances and pro forma data are loaded directly into OneStream, significantly reducing onboarding time. This data also feeds into Stagwell’s organic growth calculations, enabling automated year-over-year comparisons that were previously managed manually.
RESULTS:
From weeks to hours: a leap in efficiency
Stagwell’s partnership with Spaulding Ridge delivered improvements across financial operations, reporting, and audit readiness. By replacing fragmented, manual processes with automated workflows and centralized data management, the organization significantly reduced cycle times and improved collaboration between the corporate and accounting teams. Stagwell’s financial data is now readily accessible, structured and centralized, laying a scalable foundation for future growth and planning initiatives.
- Task manager provides real-time updates on submissions. Teams now have instant visibility into task status, eliminating the need for manual tracking and follow-ups. Their workflow is automated, and with clean data, it has become easier for the accounting team to approve data changes after trial balance submissions.
- Internal auditing went from 2 weeks to 6 hours. Audit reviews that previously took weeks are now completed in hours, thanks to automated workflows and centralized analytics.
- Metadata management is done in ACM automatically. What was once a manual, email-driven process is now streamlined through ACM, ensuring control, traceability, and audit readiness.
- Quarterly analytics now live in OneStream dashboards. Dashboards have replaced Excel-based reports, enabling real-time consolidation and review by audit and finance teams. It also gives more control and access to stakeholders during the close and reconciliation process.
