F&A Transformation at Speed: Virtual Center of Excellence Built in 8 Weeks

Industry: Banking and Financial Services | Services: Business Operations, Data & Analytics, Digital Consulting

Client Overview

A global investment and holding organization with a rapidly expanding portfolio, the client required a scalable and digitally enabled Finance & Accounting (F&A) framework. Following a major acquisition in late 2019, they faced a transition deadline of June 2020—just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to disrupt global operations.

The Challenge

Accelerating F&A Transformation Amid Uncertainty

When the pandemic hit, traditional on-site training and process transitions became impossible. The client needed to rapidly centralize and standardize F&A processes while ensuring business continuity and compliance across multiple portfolio companies.

The challenge was twofold:

1. Establish a fully virtual F&A Center of Excellence (CoE) capable of training and deploying teams remotely.
2. Build a scalable digital learning model that could strengthen collaboration between people and automation tools—all within eight weeks.

Given India’s limited pre-pandemic adoption of remote work, the solution needed to be both innovative and resilient, ensuring seamless delivery despite logistical constraints.

Sutherland Solution

Standing Up a Virtual F&A Center of Excellence

Sutherland’s Finance Transformation experts designed and deployed a decentralized, end-to-end F&A training and operations model—entirely virtual and built for scalability.

Our approach included:

1. Comprehensive digital training ecosystem: Delivered over 130 hours of instructor-led sessions covering information security, data protection, and process excellence.
2. Hands-on simulation training: Conducted 90 hours of real-time virtual simulations, enabling trainees to collaborate, share screens, and solve complex financial scenarios.
3. Standardization and governance: Created 100 detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for seamless deployment across all portfolio companies.
4. Master Services Agreement (MSA): Established a replicable contractual and operational framework to onboard future entities quickly.

By combining people, process, and technology, Sutherland transformed a traditionally on-site discipline into a future-ready virtual CoE model.

The Outcome

Redefining Finance Operations for the Digital Era

In just eight weeks—33% faster than industry benchmarks—Sutherland delivered a fully operational, virtual Finance & Accounting Center of Excellence. The engagement accelerated an enterprise-grade F&A transformation that typically takes 12 months, demonstrating exceptional execution speed and precision. Despite operating in a remote-averse environment, Sutherland successfully launched the initiative in India, pioneering a new model for virtual finance operations. The scalable Center of Excellence framework and Master Services Agreement now serve as a best-practice blueprint for all client portfolio companies. Additionally, 25 professionals were trained and certified to drive digital finance performance at scale. This initiative not only future-proofed the client’s F&A operations but also redefined what’s possible in virtual financial transformation during times of global disruption.