European industrial group operating through a network of agencies across multiple countries, in a context of growth and strategic reorganization.

Existing budget processes could not identify profit and loss drivers by agency, country, or project type. Indirect cost allocations were managed manually, without harmonized methodology or clear governance. Finance leadership lacked visibility on profitability levers.

Before technology selection, the priority was clarifying the target management model and structuring allocation rules.

The fundamental challenge was margin driver identification: in a multi-agency, multi-country organization, how to precisely determine which agencies, projects, and clients actually generate value, and which destroy margin?

Without reliable analytical profitability visibility, resource allocation and commercial development decisions were made without adequate insight. Indirect costs were allocated using approximate keys that masked actual entity performance.

The objective: build a system enabling:

• Reliable margin calculation by agency, country, project, and client

• Automation of indirect cost allocations according to validated, transparent methodologies

• Providing operational staff and management with actionable profitability levers

The project began with workshops with agency directors to understand actual profitability drivers in the field. Their operational knowledge informed cost allocation rules reflecting economic reality, rather than arbitrary allocation keys.

Our work encompassed:

• Structuring analytical dimensions to calculate margins at different levels (agency, country, project, client) with consistent rules

• Defining indirect cost allocation methodologies validated by operations and documented to ensure acceptance

• Redesigning the budget process to integrate margin management from budget construction, rather than as an afterthought

Agency directors now have monthly reports enabling identification of profitability improvement levers.