Management Consulting
Optimize your organizational performance through the alignment of strategy with the execution of
initiatives . . .
News and Events
June 25, 2010
June 09, 2010
Brookfield Renewable Power
client success story
Creating an efficient and fully-functional US headquarters for Brookfield Renewable Power resulted in improved financial visibility ensuring that important information regarding the competitive environment is communicated in real time to the company’s global headquarters.
|
Canadian-based Brookfield Renewable Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, is a leading producer and developer of renewable energy focused on hydroelectric and wind technologies for over 100 years. Brookfield Renewable Power has over $10 billion of assets owned and under management, and their portfolio includes more than 160 generating facilities with over 4,000 megawatts of capacity. Brookfield Renewable Power’s operations are located primarily in North America and Brazil. In the US, the company was experiencing a significant amount of growth due to increased capacity and recent acquisitions. The US accounting and finance functions were scattered across nine US states and operated on a standalone basis, reporting to global headquarters in Canada. As the company experienced continued growth, this organizational structure was no longer functioning as desired and the need to create efficiencies to accommodate future growth became apparent. A lack of standardization led to inefficiencies in transactional processing and financial reporting. In an effort to address these issues, Brookfield Renewable Power decided to centralize the accounting and finance functions in Massachusetts. They needed to create a centralized headquarters without disrupting ongoing business activities. Streamlined processes across all areas were needed to reduce redundant activities and improve communications across organizational boundaries. The geographical change would also require a comprehensive staffing strategy to address issues that would arise as a result of this transition. |
| Caturano and Company performed a Rapid Assessment to diagnose technology and process challenges, gain insight into the organization, and craft a detailed plan around the organizations finance functions. The plan was designed to create the US Headquarters and transition the US finance and accounting functions to Massachusetts. Caturano and Company performed a thorough analysis of each location’s business and technological requirements to determine the optimal standard processes that would meet the needs of each location. Best practices in the purchasing and A/P functions were established to streamline the process and reduce redundant activities. To decrease the disruption of ongoing business activities during the transition, Caturano and Company consultants took over the accounting and finance functions, while assisting in the hiring and training of new staff. During this time, SOX procedures were designed and implemented within the accounting and finance structure to increase controls in the transactional and financial reporting processes. |
| Caturano and Company succeeded in creating an efficient and fully-functional US headquarters for Brookfield Renewable Power. Along with significant cost savings from reduced redundancy in financial operations and procedures, there are clear decision rights and reporting lines; effective controls minimizing errors and inefficiencies; free-flowing information across organizational boundaries; and, ultimately, improved financial visibility ensuring that important information regarding the competitive environment is communicated in real time to the company’s global headquarters. |
your contact
Jim Cashin
Vice President
617.241.4694
client success stories
“To continue to be a leader in renewable energy, we needed to create new efficiencies that enable
future growth. Caturano and Company helped us centralize operations — with zero downtime.”
Kim Osmars, COO, Brookfield Renewable Power, US
