Financial Integration Across a $2B Enterprise Merger

Deloitte initiated a global effort to consolidate independently operated member firm IT organizations into a centralized structure. Each geography had developed its own approach to service delivery, procurement, and financial management. That independence created inconsistency in how IT services were delivered, how costs were managed, and how financial accountability was maintained across the firm. The objective of the program was not to introduce new capabilities, but to bring control and consistency to an environment that had evolved in parallel across regions.

The challenge was not technical. It was financial and operational. Member firms remained responsible for funding IT services, but there was no standardized model for how those costs would be structured, allocated, or recovered once services were centralized. There was no consistent rate structure for resources across regions, no unified approach to billing and reporting, and no clear mechanism to track consumption in a way that would support financial accountability. At the same time, the scale of the program required coordination across IT, Finance, and FP&A teams operating in different countries with different expectations and constraints.

The work focused on building the financial operating model required to make the consolidation viable. This was done by establishing structure where none existed and introducing governance that could be sustained across a global program. A global IT rate card was developed to standardize how resources were costed across regions, creating a consistent baseline for financial planning and cost allocation. In parallel, a formal playbook was created to define how billing, reporting, and financial processes would operate under the new model. This was not a theoretical document. It was designed to answer the practical question each member firm would have on day one: how do we operate, how are we charged, and how do we account for what we consume.

Beyond the artifacts themselves, the work required maintaining program-level governance across Deloitte’s IT Finance function and its supporting FP&A teams. This meant structuring deliverables, aligning timelines, and coordinating execution across groups that were already operating under pressure. Financial readiness had to move in step with the broader program, and that required active oversight, not passive reporting. The role was to ensure that financial processes were not developed in isolation, but integrated into the execution of the program as it progressed.

The result was a defined financial operating model that allowed the centralized IT structure to function with clarity. Costs could be allocated and recovered consistently. Service consumption could be tracked in a way that supported accountability. Member firms had a clear understanding of how they would operate within the new structure. Just as important, the program had the governance needed to move forward without relying on ad hoc coordination.