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Original M. Pact methods · Free working records

A framework for the decision in front of you.

Choose the question you need to resolve. Read the method and its example, then copy the record into the document you already use with your team.

Use observed information where you have it. Give missing evidence an owner and a next action. A completed record supports a decision; the people with the relevant authority still make it.

Start a useful conversation

Define a Finance transformation engagement.

You do not need a complete transformation plan to choose a useful first piece of work. Start with the problem, describe what you know and make the missing evidence part of the brief. Use the same brief to compare consultants on what they will actually deliver.

Use nonconfidential information and role names. Keep personal details and private records out. Your entries stay in this page until you leave or refresh. Copy or download the record to keep working on it.

Each field accepts up to 1,800 characters. Keep additional detail in your working document and note where it is held.

Choose the question that most needs an answer now. You can change the package as the evidence develops.

1. Set the problem and the boundary

What decision or service needs to improve? Record the current measure, source and period if known, the desired result and who needs it.

Name one process or decision, its start and end, the teams involved and what stays outside this engagement.

2. Describe what happens today

How does the work run today? Note handoffs, exceptions, tools and what already works. Separate observed facts from assumptions.

Which definitions, sources and controls matter? Who owns them? Note known quality or access gaps and the evidence still needed.

Which roles do the work and make decisions? What skills or support are missing? Who can make time available and which work would wait?

3. Make the first package tangible

Turn the chosen package into a short deliverables list. For each output, name its user, format, boundary and due point. State exclusions and dependencies.

For each output, specify the observable check, baseline or target, evidence and person who accepts it. Keep discovery findings separate from implemented results.

Who needs to be heard, what will we ask, and what record will resolve each question? Give each gap a person responsible, next action and date. Unknown is a useful starting point.

4. Compare help and agree the next step

Compare the same scope and outputs: approach, relevant evidence, named team, client time needed, fees and assumptions, exclusions, dependencies, change terms, reusable handoff and exit. Mark omissions as questions rather than scores.

Name who owns the business result, provides evidence, accepts deliverables and decides on scope, spend, access or later system changes. Record decisions still outstanding.

Record the people, evidence, time, access and decisions the first package needs. State what is ready, what is unknown and who will resolve it. An unfinished baseline can itself be the first deliverable.

Choose the next action, the person responsible and date. At review, decide whether to continue this package, revise it, choose another or defer, and record why.

Take this draft to the process owner and the people doing the work. Ask each consultant to respond to the same outputs, evidence and boundaries. Keep their assumptions and unanswered questions with the comparison.

Your Finance engagement working record

DEFINE A FINANCE TRANSFORMATION ENGAGEMENT

Original M. Pact working record

Source: https://mpactadvisory.com/frameworks#finance-engagement

Working record — proposed scope for discussion



Proposed first work package: [To choose]



SET THE PROBLEM AND THE BOUNDARY

The result we need: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

What this first piece of work covers: [To complete — record the gap and next action]



DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS TODAY

Process and current capability: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

Data and controls: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

People, skills and available time: [To complete — record the gap and next action]



MAKE THE FIRST PACKAGE TANGIBLE

The outputs we will ask for: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

How we will judge the work: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

Conversations and missing evidence: [To complete — record the gap and next action]



COMPARE HELP AND AGREE THE NEXT STEP

The same questions for each consultant: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

Who decides and who owns the result: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

What must be in place before work begins: [To complete — record the gap and next action]

The next conversation or decision: [To complete — record the gap and next action]



Review this record with the people involved. A proposed package is not a consultant appointment or approval for a technology change.

Your wording is retained in the record. Blank fields stay visible as gaps to resolve.

Connect the work to Finance directionPrepare a current-system demonstration

Choose the direction

Make the business choice and the first stage clear.

Start your Finance AI strategy with the work

A first-stage strategy brief with the business result, options, ownership, capacity, evidence and next decision recorded, connected to the wider Finance roadmap.

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Working record: Start your Finance AI strategy with the work

Finance AI strategy brief

Business result / decision or service to improve:
To complete
Process, entities and users in scope:
To complete
Current measure / definition / baseline / period / source:
To complete
Current systems / licensed capabilities / ERP boundary:
To complete
Options to compare, including process and existing tools:
To complete
Required data / permitted use / missing inputs / owner:
To complete
Wider roadmap activities / outputs / dependencies:
To complete
First-stage work / effort unit and period / confirmed capacity:
To complete
Work deferred / reason / consequence / condition for return:
To complete
One-off cash costs / recurring cash costs / currency / period:
To complete
Internal effort and capacity value, separately from cash savings:
To complete
Key assumptions / one-at-a-time sensitivities / evidence missing:
To complete
Business owner / permissions to confirm / review participants:
To complete
Test tasks / quality and effort criteria / exception and return path:
To complete
Team practice / support / time released / owner:
To complete
Next decision / evidence required / approver / review date:
To complete

Turn enterprise strategy into clear choices

A strategic choice with the business result, investment trade-off, first action and conditions for reconsidering it recorded.

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Copy this record, replace the prompts with your information and keep the source guide with it for the method and example.

Working record: Turn enterprise strategy into clear choices

Strategic choice

Customers, market or people served:
To complete
Value we intend to provide / why they would choose us:
To complete
Choice now / alternative deferred:
To complete
Business result / baseline / target / period:
To complete
Evidence today / assumption still to test:
To complete
Capability and team changes required:
To complete
Money and capacity assigned / work that waits:
To complete
Accountable business owner:
To complete
First action / action owner / date:
To complete
Critical dependency / owner:
To complete
Early signal / review date / trigger to reconsider:
To complete

Review the strategy you already have

A review decision with the evidence, financial consequence, resource trade-off and trigger for another review recorded.

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Copy this record, replace the prompts with your information and keep the source guide with it for the method and example.

Working record: Review the strategy you already have

Strategy review: one choice

Choice as the plan wrote it (result, measure, date, owner):
To complete
Why this choice now:
To complete
Assumption 1, the plan's figure, what the records show, status, record used:
To complete
Assumption 2, the plan's figure, what the records show, status, record used:
To complete
Assumption 3, the plan's figure, what the records show, status, record used:
To complete
Gap priced (components, volume, period, cash or operating-cost comparison):
To complete
Competing commitment (resource, owner, date, cost of delaying it):
To complete
Decision requested (what changes, cost, who approves, what it protects):
To complete
Figures still needed before approval, and who brings them:
To complete
Alternative stated honestly, and the basis of any moved target:
To complete
Result owner and cost owner:
To complete
Trigger (measured condition, date), who watches, reported at:
To complete
If the trigger fires, who decides what:
To complete

Test a growth choice before you fund it

A growth decision with the route, economics, capacity, first action and conditions for proceeding recorded.

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Working record: Test a growth choice before you fund it

Growth choice test

Result the option is for (measure, today, target, or what is unmeasured):
To complete
Starting conditions (systems owned, workflow, size of change):
To complete
Capability the option needs:
To complete
Routes, build, borrow or buy (startup cost, monthly cost, time to in place, what is kept if stopped):
To complete
Plan volume assumption and its source:
To complete
Per route, price, direct cost and contribution per unit, on one cost basis:
To complete
Per route, fixed cost a month, and which lines are allocations of existing pay:
To complete
Per route, break-even volume and capacity:
To complete
Routes compared at the same volumes (covers its cost from, earns more than the other from):
To complete
Startup cash, and who brings the cash view until the route covers itself:
To complete
Decision, fund, test or defer, with the reason:
To complete
Test period, measures and the condition that converts the test:
To complete
Who sells or delivers the new work, responsibilities that change, work that stops and the record that replaces it:
To complete
Existing commitment it competes with, result owner, capability owner, review meeting:
To complete
Trigger that reopens the decision, and what continues for existing customers if the option is withdrawn:
To complete

Choose how the work will run

Test the requirement, options and costs before committing to a change.

Test what your finance system can do

A specific demo request and a record of what works, what costs extra and what remains unproven.

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Working record: Test what your finance system can do

Finance system demo request

System / configuration being evaluated:
To complete
Business task and decision it supports:
To complete
Inputs, awkward case and required output:
To complete
User or automation account, permitted actions and approver:
To complete
What must happen end to end:
To complete
Evidence:
Demonstrated / Needs configuration / Add-on or custom work / Unproven
Agreed source, connection, blocked-action evidence and failure owner:
To complete
License, setup, continuing cost and exit terms:
To complete
Question still open / owner / due date:
To complete
Next decision:
Improve current system / Test further / Evaluate alternatives
Evidence location:
To complete

Find technology costs you can actually remove

A keep, improve, combine, replace or retire decision for one application, with the cost change, timing and owner recorded.

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Working record: Find technology costs you can actually remove

Application cost decision

Application / business work:
To complete
Business owner / application owner:
To complete
Decision:
Keep / Improve / Combine / Replace / Retire
Required service or local requirement to preserve:
To complete
Annual cash cost today / source:
To complete
Cash cost after change / source:
To complete
One-time transition and overlap costs:
To complete
Capacity released, separately from cash:
To complete
Notice deadline / earliest cost-end date:
To complete
Dependencies, records and access to preserve:
To complete
Evidence still needed / owner / next action:
To complete
Who makes the change / by when:
To complete
Who verifies the invoice and service afterwards:
To complete

Choose the right mix of rules, RPA and AI

A workflow with a clear job for existing software, RPA, AI and the person responsible for approval.

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Working record: Choose the right mix of rules, RPA and AI

Automation handoff

Task / business result:
To complete
Step 1 and its inputs:
To complete
Existing feature or integration available:
To complete
Defined UI steps that may need RPA:
To complete
Interpretation or drafting that may need AI:
To complete
Allowed tool actions / actions requiring approval:
To complete
Input checks / duplicate prevention:
To complete
Exceptions / owner / stopping condition:
To complete
Output, source references and reviewer:
To complete
Baseline total effort / quality / deadline:
To complete
Test result including monitoring and correction:
To complete

Decide whether to consolidate your ERP systems

A consolidation recommendation with the costs, dependencies, conditions and decision owner made clear.

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Working record: Decide whether to consolidate your ERP systems

System consolidation decision

Result the business needs (measure, acceptance evidence, date, owner):
To complete
What each route delivers, what it cannot in this scope, and why:
To complete
Differences that must stay (regulation, customer, market, control), owner of each:
To complete
Differences unresolved, owner and date to confirm:
To complete
Accumulated differences (count) and what removes them:
To complete
Route A on the timeline (one-time, recurring added from when, cost ending when, capacity released, result date):
To complete
Route B on the timeline (one-time, recurring added from when, cost ending when, capacity released, result date):
To complete
Sequence, if one route bridges to another (bridge running cost, reuse or write-off, premium over the direct route):
To complete
Dependency outside the team's control (program, owner, date, cost of moving it):
To complete
Decision requested (route or sequence, cost on the timeline, who approves, result served):
To complete
Figures still needed before approval, and who brings them:
To complete
Alternative stated honestly:
To complete
Result owner, delivery and run-cost owner, controls owner:
To complete
Trigger (vendor notice, result not accepted by date, dependency slip) and what continues if it fires:
To complete

Make ownership and the change work

Give people the responsibilities, time, authority and evidence they need.

Bring AI governance into the business review

A business-review record with the decision sought, permitted scope, accountable people, evidence, open conditions and next review point.

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Working record: Bring AI governance into the business review

AI governance in the business review

Work and business outcome / consequences of failure:
To complete
Permitted actions / limits / where authority is recorded:
To complete
Decisions retained by people / actual permission holders:
To complete
Data / tools / recipients / source-use conditions:
To complete
Policy in the task / configured boundaries / operating evidence:
To complete
People performing and reviewing / confirmed skills, time and coverage:
To complete
Results / failures / full effort / unknowns in the value assessment:
To complete
Who may suspend / how state is checked / authority to resume:
To complete
Changes requiring another review / owner of next decision:
To complete
Decision sought:
To complete
Missing evidence / owner / next action:
To complete
Responsible people to confirm:
To complete
Next review point:
To complete

Decide who owns finance's technology work

An ownership decision covering responsibilities, authority, available time, handoffs and the conditions that would make you revisit it.

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Working record: Decide who owns finance's technology work

Technology ownership decision

Capability and the result it serves (measure, result owner):
To complete
What went wrong last year (dated, from the record):
To complete
Configuration owner (authority, available time, change approval and checks):
To complete
Data feed owners (each feed, the check, who raises a failure):
To complete
Platform owner (contract, security, access, upgrades, run cost):
To complete
Local use (what units may propose, who approves, one model or several):
To complete
Handoffs (response, completion date, dependencies and available capacity):
To complete
Escalation (roles, deadline and meeting if timely):
To complete
What each owner needs (access, automation limits, training, time, contract change):
To complete
Work stopped or transferred (acceptance and receiving-team capacity):
To complete
Not decided here (budget moves, new roles):
To complete
Decision requested (who approves together):
To complete
Trigger (measured conditions, who reports, at which meeting):
To complete

Turn a system change into work your team can do

A short team change brief with one practice task, an owner for support and a check that the new way works.

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Working record: Turn a system change into work your team can do

Team change brief

Team / task:
To complete
Today → New way of working:
To complete
Business reason / result to improve:
To complete
Responsibility that stays / responsibility that changes:
To complete
One practice task and the required result:
To complete
Time made available / work paused / manager:
To complete
Access or support needed / owner:
To complete
Question still open / who will answer / by when:
To complete
First checkpoint / evidence to review / decision owner:
To complete

Decide how much a workflow step should do on its own

A bounded workflow decision with the permitted actions, human checks, exceptions and evidence needed before expanding it.

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Working record: Decide how much a workflow step should do on its own

Workflow step decision

Step, by task and the decision it ends in:
To complete
Counts from the last three months, in one unit (items a month, handled cleanly, landing with a person, minutes each):
To complete
Rule that settles part of it (what it allows, what it never allows, owner):
To complete
Items that pass the whole rule with no other hold, and the work that stops:
To complete
Remaining items, what the system gathers and proposes, what the person checks and commits:
To complete
Exceptions and where they return:
To complete
Old work that stops beside the assistance:
To complete
Test period, counts kept, and total time on both routes:
To complete
Subset the system might act on alone (action, limit, records required, exceptions, route back when wrong):
To complete
Evidence for that subset (sample, how chosen, errors looked for, who checks):
To complete
Who holds the authority to allow it:
To complete
If the evidence does not support it, what stays and what is reviewed:
To complete

Keep the next review useful.

Bring the current record, its evidence and the earlier decision. Identify what changed before deciding whether to continue, adjust or stop.

Set the triggers for another reviewConnect the quarter to the wider Finance ambitionBrowse all research