FAQ
Frequently asked questions
The questions finance functions ask before committing. If yours is not here, write to us: the answer will probably end up on this page.
Positioning
- How does EPMind differ from a consolidation tool?
It is not the same exercise. A consolidation tool produces statutory accounts, meant for third parties. EPMind produces a management consolidation, meant for making decisions. Six things separate them:
- Entities entering scope — At their actual date in statutory terms, on a pro forma basis in management terms, so that what is compared is comparable.
- The format — A standardized accounting presentation on one side, a reporting presentation on the other: direct cost margin, management EBITDA, crossed analytical dimensions.
- Top-side consolidation entries — Technical in statutory terms, business-driven in management terms.
- The consolidation structures — A management consolidation is not obliged to follow the legal scope, and several views coexist on the same source of truth.
- The adjusted view and the pro forma — A financial and business approach, without the constraints of the standard.
- The rhythm — On the statutory publication calendar in one case, at every monthly close in the other.
The two worlds do not ignore each other, though: an annual reconciliation between the management consolidation and the statutory accounts still has to be planned for. Management figures stay tied back to the accounting.
- How does EPMind differ from a budget planning tool?
It is not the same exercise. A planning tool builds the scenarios: drivers, assumptions, simulations. EPMind consolidates them and can orchestrate their collection. That said, the Excel add-in and API access to figures that are reliable and approved change the picture.
The modeling happens where your teams already do it, in Excel or in a dedicated tool — and for them too, that makes the change easier to carry through. EPMind receives the result, at statutory or analytical level of detail, and handles it by the same consolidation mechanics as actuals: as many scenarios as needed, comparable with each other and with actuals, on a single governed source of truth.
Setup
- What are the real setup timelines?
They break down into three stages.
- In a few days — The platform is technically set up, with its starter kit.
- In a few weeks — The platform is configured and adapted to each client’s needs: source systems, entities, charts of accounts, account mapping, analytical dimensions, financial statements, workflows, and access rights.
- Then change management — The phase that ultimately determines success. Whether managed internally or supported by EPMind, adoption is tailored to your organization’s needs.
- What is the IT department’s role in the project?
IT is involved, but it does not carry an integration project. In practice:
- Access — It opens access to the source systems.
- System settings — It signs off on them, and on the security rules.
- Compliance — It checks that the arrangement complies with internal policy.
What disappears is the external provider, the integration specification, and the IT schedule that goes with it: the connection is established from existing extracts or access, with no custom development, and the functional configuration is done by the EPMind teams themselves.
- Which ERPs are compatible?
Compatible with every ERP on the market: the connection is established from existing extracts or access, with no custom development. Three modes are possible, depending on what your system allows:
- A service account — Over OAuth, on the source system.
- An extraction robot — Automated, when direct access is not open.
- Manual import — Of the extracts your teams already produce.
Because the multi-ERP mapping is centralized, several entities can keep different systems and different charts of accounts with no prior harmonization. The mode chosen for each of your sources is settled at the first conversation, before any commitment.
- How many people do you need to involve on your side?
Fewer than a conventional integration project, but not none. Four roles:
- A finance contact — Someone who knows the scope and the business rules.
- A key user per entity — For reporting the data up.
- An IT contact point — For access.
- A sponsor — Able to decide quickly.
The availability of these people and the clarity of the governance are the two main factors in success and in holding the timeline.
- Is FP&A support mandatory?
No. The platform and its setup make up the offer; the support comes in addition, and many groups do not take it.
The configuration is carried out by the EPMind teams with your key users, who decide the business rules, approve the account mapping, and acceptance-test the reports. By the end of the configuration, your teams know the choices that were made and where to go back to them.
Support is justified if you lack the resources to carry the change through — a team already at capacity on the closes, a scope that has just doubled, a finance function in transition — not because nobody at your end could run the platform. It is sized separately, it flexes, and it stops.
Data and scope
- Can history from past years be brought in?
Yes, within the limits of what your systems can return. Migrating history is a scope choice settled at configuration time: it depends on the availability of the data for the years concerned and on how stable the charts of accounts were over that period.
Bringing in at least one full year is generally advisable, if only to have comparatives from the very first close.
- Is there a limit to the number of entities?
The level-based architecture is built for multi-entity, multi-country, and multi-currency scopes, and adding an entity is a matter of configuration rather than a new project. That is also what makes acquisitions absorbable without a rebuild.
The exact sizing of your scope is confirmed during qualification.
- What happens if you want your data back?
Your data stays yours and can be retrieved. The platform exposes exports and an API, and the Excel reporting outputs already constitute a usable format.
The precise terms for returning data at the end of the relationship are set out in the contract, and we invite you to check them before signing, as you would for any tool that hosts your financial data.
Running it
- Do we have to give up our Excel and PowerPoint models?
No, and that is a deliberate position. The Excel add-in plugs your budget and analysis models directly into the platform’s approved data, and the PowerPoint add-in generates the reports from the same set of figures.
Your files stay yours: what disappears is the re-entry between the platform and those documents, and so the discrepancies it produces.
- How are the teams trained?
Your key users learn the platform alongside the EPMind teams during the setup: they are the ones who decide the presentations, approve the account mapping and the business rules, and acceptance-test the reports. By the end of that phase, they are self-sufficient.
For other users, what is needed depends on the role. A contributor reporting data up follows a guided workflow and picks it up in a few minutes. A financial controller building reporting outputs spends longer on it.
Skills keep building after that, alongside change management. With one certainty: users find statements, dimensions, and vocabulary that are their own, which shortens the learning curve compared with a technical tool.
- What happens after deployment?
Your teams run the platform. You add an entity, a dimension, or a statement yourselves.
When you need help — a heavier change, an improvement effort after the first few closes — it is the same teams as the deployment. Not a third party.
Security
- Where is the data hosted, and how is it secured?
Hosting is provided by Microsoft Azure, on isolated servers located in Europe, with contractual availability.
- Certifications — The hosting infrastructure is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified: these are the hosting provider’s certifications, not certifications held by EPMind.
- Access — Multi-factor authentication, encrypted communications, and granular access rights by functional, geographic, and analytical scope.
- Compliance — The arrangement is GDPR compliant, with European hosting.
- On-premise hosting — An option exists for organizations that require it; it is scoped at the first conversation.
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