Board Pack Turnaround & Reporting Uplift

A globally operating quantitative trading firm was producing its monthly board pack in 15 days - a process that was absorbing significant capacity from a lean global finance team.

I conducted a systematic analysis of the entire reporting cycle, mapping task dependencies and identifying where work could be parallelised, reallocated, or automated. Every individual process was then targeted for streamlining, with Python and SQL used to automate the most time-consuming manual steps. A Jira-integrated tracking tool provided real-time visibility into close progress, and PowerBI dashboards connected to SQL Server replaced static spreadsheet packs for KPIs, cost variances, and headcounts.

The result was an 80% reduction in board pack production time - from 15 days to 3. Rolling forecasting replaced the annual budget cycle, anchored to the firm's existing Jira contracts database to give forecasts a direct link to committed spend. Once that contracts data had been validated, it was extended to drive the accruals process - automatically identifying variances between actual costs and contracted amounts, and suggesting the correct accruals to close any gaps. The finance team achieved all of this with fewer headcount than before, while materially increasing the quality and timeliness of reporting delivered to the board.