About Republic Finance
Republic Finance, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, specializes in personal loans since 1952. Serving over 350,000 customers across 250+ communities in the United States, they are known for tailored financial solutions, exceptional customer service, and ongoing branch network and online service expansion.
Situation
Republic Finance, a consumer lending organization, faced significant challenges in their financial planning and analysis (FP&A) processes. The budgeting cycle was hampered by extensive manual data validation, slowing down the process and increasing the risk of errors. Pulling budget data from multiple sources required heavy use of SQL scripts, creating dependencies on technical resources. Additionally, a recent management transition, including a new CEO, CFO, and FP&A Director, emphasized the need for agility and modern processes.
Action
To address these challenges, Republic Finance implemented Oracle’s EPM Cloud Planning solution with the help of Centroid’s expertise. This strategic move automated data validation, eliminating workflow bottlenecks caused by manual Excel-based processes. The solution enhanced collaboration in the budgeting process by providing a unified platform for all stakeholders, standardizing data validation across all lines of business to ensure consistency and reliability.
Impact
The implementation of the EPM solution brought significant benefits to Republic Finance. The SmartView Excel plugin enabled business users to continue leveraging familiar Excel tools, leading to high user adoption.
Operational reporting was utilized to analyze profitability by loan classification and product type, providing deeper insights into the business. Additionally, the reliance on IT for financial reporting requirements decreased, allowing the finance team to generate reports more independently. Republic Finance experienced a streamlined financial planning process with reliable and accurate data. The executive team conducted a quarterly board meeting using reports and dashboards native to cloud planning, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new system.
The company is now poised to complete its first annual planning cycle in Oracle EPM Cloud, with the confidence that their processes are modern, agile, and reliable.