Powering Finance for Energy & Utility Companies — Episode 094

Finance teams in energy, utilities, and renewable energy operate in one of the most complex reporting environments in the market. In Episode 094 of CPM Customer Success, Nova Advisory explores how CFOs, Controllers, and FP&A leaders in these sectors are modernizing close, consolidation, and planning using a unified CPM platform. Through two customer examples, the episode shows what changes when finance moves from spreadsheet-driven workarounds to controlled, scalable processes.

Episode Summary

This episode focuses on the unique finance challenges faced by energy, utilities, and renewable energy organizations, including multi-entity consolidation, complex ownership structures, regulatory reporting requirements, and constant market volatility. These conditions make it difficult to deliver timely insight when close and planning processes rely on disconnected systems and manual spreadsheets.

The discussion breaks down common pain points that show up across the sector: siloed ERPs and planning files, forecasts that take weeks to refresh, joint ventures and minority ownership structures that require complex consolidation logic, multi-currency requirements, and the growing need for scenario planning. In industries where commodity prices and demand can shift quickly, lagging reports reduce confidence and slow decision-making.

Two customer examples bring the impact of modernization to life. The first is a fast-growing renewable energy developer that outgrew Excel as its portfolio of solar projects expanded. By moving consolidations, close workflows, intercompany eliminations, currency translation, and cash flow reporting into a single platform, the company replaced fragile spreadsheets with controlled processes, standardized reporting, and faster board-ready outputs.

The second example is a global battery recycling enterprise operating across multiple regions with a fragmented financial process built around a legacy tool and heavy Excel dependence. By unifying consolidations, enabling earlier corporate visibility, automating validation rules, improving intercompany matching, and handling currency translation centrally, the organization reduced late-stage surprises, strengthened controls, and accelerated its close cycle.

The episode concludes by tying these stories to a larger theme: in complex, regulated industries, a unified finance platform supports a shift from hindsight reporting to faster analysis, stronger confidence in the numbers, and more strategic finance partnership.

Listen now:

What You’ll Learn

• Why energy and utility finance teams struggle with consolidation, ownership complexity, and regulatory reporting
  
  
• How a unified CPM platform reduces spreadsheet dependency and improves control
  
  
• What changes when close, intercompany, currency translation, and cash flow become automated
  
  
• How faster visibility enables more agile planning and scenario response
  
  
• Why “one source of truth” improves confidence across finance, leadership, and auditors 

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