Executive, finance and operational leaders may believe they have full visibility over their business processes and the numbers that flow from them.
But new thinking around the gaps between the silos of end-to-end business processes (sometimes called enterprise value streams) suggests many organizations are missing meaningful value creation opportunities - untapped in the shadows between the functions.
CEO of business performance improvements specialist, Consider Solutions.
These dark corners are hidden mines of business value and cost optimization that can be captured – and sustained – so this fresh perspective reframes the role of finance as an end-to-end value enabler, combining process visibility, prioritization of P&L-relevant detail and targeted deep dives where refocused effort can genuinely move the needle.
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Such ‘gaps between the silos’ are areas of the business only in our peripheral vision and not quite in the region of maximum focus, precision or accountability – they are not really owned by anyone or any function.
Organizing and managing silos
Silos have always been the natural way of organizing and managing large organizations, from the Roman legions to the Fortune 500 enterprises of today, but in the new world of streamlining end-to-end performance for customers and optimized data-informed operations, silos are exposing gaps in visibility and accountability.
Consequently, the biggest challenge AND opportunity is in these gaps between the silos, rather than purely focusing on performance improvement and measurement in narrow task management groupings. This helps improve visibility and alignment across end-to-end processes.
Despite robust close cycles, numerous reconciliations and audit focus, these critical operational cracks typically impact working capital through the general ledger and subledgers, as well as the P&L itself - directly through overstated costs and indirectly through errors, handoffs, manual interventions, re-work, siloed responsibilities and customer/supplier queries.
Our analysis and benchmarks suggest that a value equivalent to up to 0.4% of revenue can be trapped in between silos and denuding both working capital and the P&L (EBIT). While rarely material to trigger audit findings or restatements, the cumulative impact on profitability, working capital and cash flow is both tangible and significant.
Operational gaps
Examples of such operational gaps that dilute financial and operational performance include:
- Un-invoiced or partially invoiced sales orders
- Excess and obsolete inventory masked by process complexity
- Invoiced but damaged or returned goods left unresolved • Good receiving errors
- Master data inaccuracies driving working capital inefficiencies
- Timing and allocation of revenue/cost accrual details
Crucially, these issues persist not because teams lack capability, but because traditional controls focus on ‘downside risk’ and protecting against overstated results, rather than surfacing missed upside opportunities.
Audit processes, system reconciliations and financial close metrics often confirm that numbers balance - without confirming that underlying activity reflects operational reality.
Consequently, finance, accounting and operational leaders under pressure to be value creators, not just scorekeepers, can challenge long-held assumptions about what ‘visibility and control’ really looks like in complex, global organizations.
Looking forward
Looking forward, we need to deliberately take on the messy, cross-functional problems, the ones no single function wants to own, that cause these gaps between the silos in the first place.
Because until a leader takes the risk to make the decision to be accountable for real outcomes, nothing will change.
Plus, AI isn’t going to magically turn a transactional focus into a strategic, end-to-end focused one. AI tools will expose accountability issues, but it isn't going to solve them.
Eliminating the defects, errors and leaks in the end-to-end processes that drive the P&L and balance sheet is now crucial. Genuine visibility impacts both but, however appealing the P&L may look, we know the balance sheet determines the ‘health’ of the business, its assets (including cash) and liabilities – and that’s where the overlooked nuggets of profit and cash can hide.
Understanding the realities
That’s why understanding the realities and vagaries of end-to-end business processes and operations is now critical to ensuring both financial efficiency and operational health. There is substantial hidden value to be found in the gaps between the silos and it WILL be captured. The question is only who will take the initiative?
All told, this new focus will strengthen financial resilience, improve cash flow, optimize capital, manage risk, drive profitable growth (not just top-line revenue but scalable, sustainable cash flow ), increase operational efficiency, cut waste and assist in automation efforts to build a much more resilient, agile and successful business.
It will also help us harness the potential of AI across the enterprise, by changing the historical, restricted context.
Combining approaches
By combining traditional deterministic, rules-based software with probabilistic (AI) approaches, defect identification has reached new heights.
The process issues and wastage hidden in the gaps between the silos – which are a constant drain on profit and cash flow - are now identified in real-time based on both rules and historic data patterns.
This amalgamation of binary certainty and augmentation for human-decision making on the more nuanced ‘edge cases’ is a powerful step forward in the arena of continuous process improvement.
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