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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Finance transformation

Zentara Group operates in nine countries. Each subsidiary runs its own accounts payable, payroll and general ledger teams using different software, giving inconsistent processes and high duplicated costs. The CFO proposes moving these routine, high-volume transactional activities into one internal unit serving all subsidiaries under service-level agreements. Which finance operating model does this describe?

This is a shared service centre. Routine, high-volume transactional finance activities are consolidated into one internal unit that serves all subsidiaries under service-level agreements, which removes duplication and standardises processes, unlike outsourcing to an external provider or keeping decentralised local teams.

  1. AA shared service centreCorrect
  2. BA fully decentralised finance function with local autonomy
  3. CA business partnering model for strategic decision support
  4. DA fully outsourced arrangement with an external supplier

Explanation

Consolidating routine transactional processes from several units into a single internal unit that serves them under service-level agreements is the defining feature of a shared service centre. Outsourcing would involve an external supplier, and decentralisation would keep the duplication. Business partnering concerns decision support, not transaction processing.

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