We are proud to announce that Walkinshaw Group has been awarded the coveted Finance Automation Innovator Award at the Future of Finance Innovators Awards 2024. This prestigious recognition highlights Walkinshaw’s outstanding commitment to transforming financial operations through cutting-edge automation technologies, setting a new benchmark for efficiency, innovation, and strategic growth.

About the Future of Finance ANZ Innovators Awards

The Future of Finance ANZ Innovators Awards celebrate the most innovative and impactful projects in the finance sector. These awards aim to spotlight organisations that embrace digital transformation, empower their teams, and redefine how financial processes are executed. With a focus on driving value, reducing costs, and improving decision-making, these awards inspire companies across Australia and New Zealand to push the boundaries of traditional finance operations.

The Finance Automation Innovator Award specifically recognises organisations that have significantly advanced their financial operations through innovative automation technologies. Walkinshaw Automotive Group’s success in this category underscores their leadership in harnessing automation to drive meaningful improvements across their finance functions.

A Breakthrough in Automation for Financial Operations

Walkinshaw Automotive Group, a leader in the automotive engineering and manufacturing space, embarked on a transformative journey with the adoption of an Integrated Business Platform powered by Board software. This powerful tool was implemented to streamline FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis) and commercial finance operations, automating everything from data consolidation and reporting to real-time dashboard presentations.

Andrew Yee, Group CFO at Walkinshaw Group, emphasised that “it’s important to stay on top of technology advancements and proactively leverage technology to drive efficiency, mitigate risks, and deliver value to stakeholders. The Board software fits this framework and is the first step in our finance transformation journey.”

The introduction of AI-powered predictive analytics and scenario modelling has been a game changer for Walkinshaw’s finance team. By eliminating manual, time-consuming processes—such as extracting data from ERP systems, sorting it in Excel, and generating presentations—the new platform has drastically reduced the time spent on key tasks. What previously took days can now be completed in real-time, giving executives and customers 24/7 access to accurate, up-to-date financial insights.

This automation project not only aligns with Walkinshaw’s overall business strategy of driving cost efficiency and productivity improvements but also allows for faster and more informed decision-making. By removing redundant processes and leveraging AI, Walkinshaw is positioning itself as an agile, data-driven organisation ready to tackle the challenges of a rapidly changing industry.

Innovation That Drives Results

The impact of this automation initiative has been remarkable. One of the most significant outcomes was securing contracts with two major global automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), valued at over $35 million in annual revenue. These clients were particularly impressed with Walkinshaw’s ability to provide deep financial insights, real-time reporting, and precise forecasts—capabilities enabled by the new software platform.

Moreover, the automation of labour-intensive month-end tasks has reduced reporting timelines by 2-3 days, generating an estimated $300,000 in annual labour savings. These improvements have not only streamlined operations but also enhanced the employee experience, as non-value-added tasks have been replaced with more meaningful, strategic work.

The automation project has also mitigated the risk of human error, increasing customer trust in the data and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders. Walkinshaw’s ability to deliver real-time, reliable financial information has reinforced its reputation as a leader in financial innovation within the automotive industry.

Overcoming Challenges and Future Growth

As with any major transformation, Walkinshaw faced challenges throughout the project’s implementation. Key hurdles included integrating the new platform with existing systems and ensuring that it aligned with the company’s broader objectives. To overcome these challenges, Walkinshaw adopted a collaborative, cross-functional approach, engaging a dedicated project team to ensure the software met all business needs and timelines.

Clear and constant communication was vital. Yee noted, “we instituted weekly check-ins between the implementation and internal business teams. As go-live approached, we increased the cadence of these meetings to ensure everyone knew their deliverables.”

Building on the success of this automation initiative, Walkinshaw has ambitious plans to expand the platform’s functionality across other critical areas of the business, including Supply Chain, Stores, and Procurement. Additionally, Walkinshaw is migrating its entire ERP system to the cloud, which will offer greater scalability, seamless cross-company collaboration, and enhanced data integration.

In keeping with its forward-thinking mindset, Walkinshaw is exploring additional fintech solutions to further streamline financial operations. Yee explained, “We've already implemented solutions like EFTSure for creditor checking and are evaluating other fintech players like FloQast and Blackline to enhance our month-end reporting workflows and drive greater efficiency.”

Comments from the Future of Finance Innovator Awards Judges

"Overall, this project exemplifies a successful technology-driven transformation that has delivered measurable business value, enhanced employee experience, and positioned the company for continued success in the future. Their proactive approach to adopting new technologies and overcoming challenges makes them a deserving candidate for this award. Another reason this award stands out is for their use of AI to support scenario planning and predictive analytics."

"The adoption of the 'Board' software for FP&A and commercial finance functions improved forecasting precision and reduced reporting timelines by 2-3 days. The project also contributed to winning new customer contracts and significant labour savings. The focus on real-time data, AI-powered analytics, and future scalability with cloud technology is impressive."

"This project generated significant ROI, saved 2 FTE, reduced human errors, and significantly improved customer trust in the data. The clearly defined scope and carefully managed transformation process underline the project's success."

Congratulations to Walkinshaw Automotive Group for this well-deserved recognition! We are excited to see how their continued focus on automation will shape the future of finance within the automotive industry and beyond.