CASE STUDY · VALUE-CREATION KPIs & ACCOUNTABILITY
From a KPI book to 18 measures the board can interrogate
How ABCL helped a PE-backed technology group pursuing buy-and-build turn a documented KPI book into 18 live measures, connect five categories of source data and answer pipeline questions inside the board meeting rather than after it.
Snowflake · Power BI · Finance, billing, CRM, HR and project data
BEFORE: a KPI book, disconnected data
AFTER: a shared performance view
ENGAGEMENT
AT A GLANCE
- Company and sector
- Technology services group pursuing a buy-and-build strategy
- Sponsor
- PE-backed
- Size and dates
- Group-wide · From March 2026
- Delivery
- Founder-led by Tejas Parikh · Snowflake, Power BI
18 live KPIs
38 assessed; roadmap for the remaining measures
5 sources connected
Finance, billing, CRM, HR and project data, refreshed nightly
Two weeks → minutes
Getting the available numbers into the pack
Preparing the numbers previously stretched across almost two weeks and included CFO weekend work. The comparison covers assembling and transferring the available numbers into the pack. Analysis, commentary, review and sign-off remain with Finance. Data refreshes automatically each night, with a manual refresh available on demand.
The pressure
The group was buying businesses. Its CFO had implemented NetSuite and wanted board reporting automated. Its CEO wanted clearer KPI tracking across the business.
Preparing the numbers stretched across almost two weeks, including CFO weekend work. Questions raised after the meeting could create further weekend work. Too much effort went into assembling the information before anyone could examine what it meant.
A KPI book already existed. The measures had been defined. What had not been established was whether the underlying data could support them.
What was wrong underneath
KPIs without the data to support them
Of 38 documented KPIs, 18 could be calculated from systemised data. The rest required changes to how data was captured or to the processes behind it.
Disconnected customer records
Customer names differed across CRM, accounting and billing, so the same customer could not be followed reliably through the commercial lifecycle.
Misleading pipeline records
Lost opportunities could keep a future close date, which distorted both the reported pipeline and its timing.
Manual consolidation
Finance, billing, sales, HR and project information had to be brought together by hand before the group could report.
Follow-up work after the meeting
Questions about pipeline and forecast generated further investigation instead of being resolved while the board was still in the room.
The gap was between having a KPI defined and having the data, ownership and reporting needed to use it.
What ABCL changed
ABCL connected the KPI definitions, the source data and management reporting across the whole group. Tejas Parikh led the engagement and provided the FP&A subject matter expertise. The ABCL team delivered the coding, the data pipelines and the technical build.
01 · ALIGN
Mapped each KPI definition to its source system, established who owned each source and identified what was preventing reliable calculation.
The review established which 18 measures could be supported today and set out what would need to change for the remaining 20.
02 · DESIGN
Documented the Decision Infrastructure map so the client could see how operational systems, the data layer and reporting supported management decisions.
Customer records were aligned across CRM, accounting and billing, and some data gaps were corrected directly in the source systems rather than patched in reporting.
03 · BUILD
Connected accounting, billing, CRM, HR and payroll, and in-house project data into Snowflake, then built Power BI dashboards for financial performance and KPIs alongside data-quality checks.
Data refreshes automatically each night, with a manual refresh available when a question cannot wait.
04 · EMBED
Made data exceptions visible and attributable, so a data-quality problem has a name against it rather than becoming a finance problem by default.
A pipeline record with incorrect information can be traced to the sales representative responsible, and the Sales Director ensures corrections are made on a regular cycle. The CFO, CEO, Sales Director, other business leaders and the board all use Power BI.
Before and after
Before
After
Business and decision impact
The board can now go beneath the headline pipeline number, test the forecast against the opportunities underneath it and examine why opportunities are being lost. Questions that previously led to weeks of follow-up are explored during the discussion, using the most recent refresh.
The same environment supports accountability between meetings. An incorrect pipeline record is visible, the responsible sales representative can be identified, and the Sales Director ensures corrections are made regularly. Data quality stopped being a finance complaint and became a sales routine.
Finance now spends most of its reporting time on analysis and commentary. The reporting infrastructure also absorbed an acquisition during the engagement: once the acquired business joined the existing systems, its data flowed into group reporting, reducing additional reporting effort and manual consolidation.
Why this mattered in a PE-backed business
A buy-and-build strategy raises the demands on group reporting every time a business is added. Leadership needs a consistent view of performance across an expanding group, and the board needs to challenge the assumptions inside the forecast rather than accept the output.
Connecting source data to defined measures gave this group a firmer basis for that challenge. The acquisition made during the engagement was the practical test: once the new business joined the underlying systems, its reporting data flowed through the established environment.
Portfolio relevance
This pattern repeats in investor-backed groups that already have a KPI book but cannot connect its measures to reliable data and clear ownership. The practical starting point is to establish which measures the data can actually support, correct the source gaps and make responsibility visible.
TRUE FP&A impact
Trusted Data
Five categories of source data connected, customer records aligned and data-quality exceptions made visible.
Responsive Planning
Not part of this engagement.
Up-to-date Insights
Financial and KPI dashboards refreshed nightly, with a manual refresh available on demand.
Engaged Decision Support
Executives and the board explore performance in the meeting, and Sales owns the correction of pipeline exceptions.
The takeaway
A KPI book creates value only when its measures can be calculated consistently, challenged by management and attached to somebody who is responsible for the answer.
This group put 18 measures into use, established what would be needed for the rest and connected its financial and commercial information. What it has now is a performance environment that supports day-to-day accountability and board-level challenge as the group grows.