Transforming financial consolidation at scale

Glanbia is a global food company operating across 150 entities worldwide, each generating complex intercompany transactions and foreign currency calculations. To improve efficiency, the company partnered with PwC to reimagine its financial close process.

Glanbia’s existing consolidation system was dated and there was an obvious opportunity for automation. The stakes were high: as a publicly traded company, Glanbia needed accurate, timely financial reporting throughout the project to maintain market confidence while navigating change.

The food industry is navigating unprecedented complexity. Shrinking profit margins, intricate multi-entity supply chains and heightened regulatory scrutiny are reshaping how companies manage their finances. Add persistent pressures like volatile commodity prices and the urgent need for digital transformation, and it’s clear that traditional financial processes will struggle to keep pace.

For global food companies operating across multiple entities and jurisdictions, manual consolidation methods create bottlenecks that limit agility and decision-making speed.

To solve this problem, we brought together expertise from across our global network — teams from Ireland, Germany, Italy and India — to deliver an integrated SAP consolidation solution that would streamline Glanbia’s entire financial reporting process.

But we didn’t stop at technology. During the selection process, we looked around the corner to identify broader opportunities, bringing in our tax and ESG (environmental, social and governance) specialists to explore how this transformation could support their wider compliance and sustainability reporting needs.

We delivered end-to-end financial systems expertise so Glanbia could transform their month-end close from a manual process to a strategic advantage.

Rather than simply updating old systems, we implemented SAP’s latest consolidation tools while maintaining full integration across Glanbia’s technology stack. This meant they could trace financial performance from top-line profit right down to individual invoices across all 150 companies.

Our collaborative approach tackled more than just the technical implementation. We worked closely with Glanbia’s finance teams to standardise foreign currency reporting approaches across different units, eliminating inconsistencies that had existed for years.

The project leveraged our deep understanding of complex corporate structures and regulatory requirements, ensuring the solution would support both external market reporting and internal management insights.

• 80% automation of cash flow reporting processes that were previously entirely manual.

• Faster month-end close with streamlined consolidation across all 150 entities.

• Standardised reporting with consistent foreign currency calculations across all business units.

• Enhanced visibility from high-level profit figures down to individual transaction details.

• Reduced manual work, freeing skilled finance professionals to focus on analysis and strategy.

The project went live in January 2025 with full automation achieved by May. Most importantly, finance teams now spend their time on value-adding activities rather than data entry.

This transformation has unlocked further opportunities for innovation. We’ve since helped Glanbia forecast future performance with the same efficiency they now have in reporting historical results – delivering an 8x improvement in planning speed.

We plan to extend this approach across all divisions, creating a unified planning and reporting platform that gives Glanbia complete visibility into both past performance and future potential.

Overall, this project clearly demonstrates how the right technology foundation can accelerate broader business transformation initiatives.

We’re here to help you

At PwC, we don’t just implement technology — we understand your business. Our global network brings together the right expertise from the right territories, while our deep industry knowledge ensures every solution fits your specific challenges.

We’ve helped organisations across sectors streamline complex financial operations, from multi-entity consolidation to cross-border reporting. When you choose us, you’re choosing partners who’ll stay with you beyond go-live, ensuring your transformation delivers lasting value.

Let’s explore how we can help you reinvent your business today.