The challenge

As part of their ongoing journey to improve and professionalize financial processes, Flügger set out to ensure that group-level risk management was captured in a centralized and user-friendly system. Their risk and control processes were documented, but internal control reviews were manually compiled in Excel spreadsheets and stored on a shared drive. In addition, reviews of internal controls were only conducted bi-annually at the entity level.

Majbritt Scheller, Head of Corporate Accounting at Flügger, explained:

“We wanted to support our financial internal controls with a structured way of working, meaning we could establish workflows... [and] have visibility of the controls,and we could also look into the possibility of expanding the use of the system to other areas.”

Although internal controls were diligently planned and executed, Flügger lacked a single source of truth for storing, monitoring, and reporting on financial controls.The reliance on spreadsheets for documentation also meant there was no visual reporting on the performance of these controls.

Flügger was therefore looking for a solution that would enable a centralized approach to internal controls—without disrupting existing processes that were already well established within the organization.

The solution

Flügger needed a tool that could adapt to their existing setup while also improving ongoing reporting to strengthen audit readiness. At the same time, they were keen to ensure that the implementation of a new platform would not turn into a large-scale project, but rather raise the bar for their existing processes in risk & control documentation, streamlining controls, and visualizing progress on controls as they are being performed.

Before making their decision, Flügger had the opportunity to test the Impero platform. This process helped confirm that it delivered the necessary features and functionality, while maintaining ease of use for scheduling controls and providing clear visualizations of control performance.

During their search for a solution, Impero quickly stood out for its user-friendliness and flexibility. The platform offered a high degree of adaptability in how risks and internal controls could be structured, scaled, and reported.

Following this evaluation process, Flügger decided to move forward with Impero in November 2022. By January 2023, they had already begun using the platform to support their month-end close processes for the Group Accounting, marking a swift and effective adoption. The full go-live across all subsidiaries was achieved by March 2023—just a few months later.

Internal training was prioritized early during the rollout process, ensuring that everyone in the Corporate Accounting team became familiar with the platform.

Because Impero is intuitive and easy to navigate, adoption across the organization was manageable as long as tasks and controls were rolled out gradually, rather than in overwhelming volumes.

For the most part, Flügger managed the rollout independently. However, when specific questions arose or they encountered functionality that required clarification, Impero Implementation and Support stepped in to provide quick and pragmatic solutions for the Flügger team to move forward.

The results

Since going live, Impero has quickly become an integral part of daily work at Flügger. Today, more than 50 employees across the group’s entities actively use the platform, and over 200 control activities are sent out every month.

For Group Financial Controller, Rasmus Wibholm Hansen, using Impero has become second nature: “When I open my browser on a daily basis, I log into Impero as one of the first things. And I don’t understand when people don’t have Impero bookmarked.”

To align processes across subsidiaries, Flügger streamlined their controls by structuring their control programs in Impero by business process areas—a setup recommended by peers and by Impero. This approach has proven especially valuable for ensuring consistency in month-end close controls across entities. The flexible and centralized nature of the Impero platform has also eliminated manual work when Rasmus needs to update controls and/or control programs, making it easier to update and maintain their internal control processes as their business evolves.

Lastly, the Impero Reporting module has quickly become a favourite feature. Rasmus noted: “It’s quite easy to get a nice overview, and to create reports that are being requested by other colleagues.”

Standardized reports have made the adoption of Impero smooth and given Flügger the confidence to onboard their external auditors, who now access reports directly in the system—making audits more efficient and transparent. This efficiency comes from giving auditors direct access to controls and documentation in Impero, reducing the time spent uploading files to their request site, as Flügger’s auditors now can retrieve month-end reconciliations and specifications themselves in Impero.