Financial Shared Services: Counterintuitive Thinking Pays Off

Looking for direction starting or maturing a shared services center? APQC’s Mary Driscoll, the senior research fellow for financial management, conducted a series of interviews with Brad DeMent, a partner with ScottMadden Inc., a management consulting firm. Mr. DeMent leads the firm’s financial shared services practice and its Latin American shared services operations. Mr. DeMent has extensive experience designing, improving, and merging shared services operations.

The following four-part series of articles grew out of those conversations. Each one delves into a crucial component of shared service planning and design. Readers will find a host of practical insights that stem from counterintuitive thinking about what a shared services operation is meant to do.