In brief
CFO, CIO, project manager, project management consultant, steering committee… The governance of a Finance IS or ERP project involves a multitude of profiles with very distinct roles. Find out how to structure this governance at each phase of the project to guarantee its success.
The governance of a Finance IS project is one of the most decisive factors in the success of a financial transformation. Whether deploying a Finance ERP, migrating to the cloud or overhauling reporting processes, these projects share a common thread: their complexity lies not just in the technology, but in the organization’s ability to effectively manage decisions, resources and stakeholders.
A Finance IS project without structured governance is a project where arbitration is slow, where responsibilities are diluted between the finance department and the IT department, and where the final solution rarely meets the needs expressed at the outset.
Conversely, well-constructed governance, with the right profiles, the right bodies and the right decision-making processes, is what makes it possible to meet deadlines, control budgets and guarantee adoption by teams.
So how do you structure the governance of a Finance IS project? Which profiles should be involved, at what stage, and with what level of authority?
What is Finance IS project governance?
The governance of a Finance IS project refers to all the mechanisms that ensure the direction, control and coordination of the project. It defines decision-making bodies, the roles and responsibilities of each player, validation processes and monitoring procedures throughout the project life cycle.
It applies to all types of financial information system transformation projects:
- ERP Finance implementation(Oracle ERP Cloud, SAP, Workday Financial Management…)
- Migration of an existing financial system to the cloud
- Overhaul of financial processes (accounting, management control, treasury, reporting)
- Deployment of an EPM solution (performance management, consolidation, budgeting)
- Regulatory compliance (electronic invoicing, IFRS, GDPR)
Whatever the nature of the project, governance rests on three fundamental pillars: strategic alignment (the project meets the company’s objectives), risk control (risks are identified and managed) and performance (the project is delivered on time, on budget and with the expected quality).
Key profiles in a Finance IS project: who does what?
The governance of a Finance IS project involves a variety of profiles, depending on the size of the organization, the scope of the project and the tools deployed. Here are the essential roles.
The CFO as sponsor and strategic decision-maker
The CFO is generally the sponsor of the Finance IS project. In this role, he or she provides the strategic vision, arbitrates structuring decisions and ensures that the project remains aligned with the objectives of the finance department.
His role is decisive on several levels: he obtains the necessary resources from senior management, he legitimizes the project with business teams, and he settles any disagreements on functional or organizational choices. An uninvolved CFO is one of the most frequent risk factors in ERP Finance projects.
The CIO, guarantor of the technical architecture
The Information Systems Director is responsible for ensuring that the project is technically consistent with the company’soverall IS architecture. He oversees infrastructure choices, integration with other systems (ERP, CRM, reporting tools, etc.), data security and regulatory compliance.
In cloud migration projects, his role is particularly central: he steers the migration strategy, arbitrates hosting choices and ensures service continuity during the transition.
The project manager, the operational orchestra conductor
The project manager is the operational pivot of the Finance IS project. He coordinates all stakeholders, manages the schedule, budget and risks, and reports to the steering committee.
In an ERP Finance project, the project manager must master both the business challenges of the finance department and the technical constraints of the implementation. This dual Finance and IT culture is a key success factor.
The AMOA Finance team, the link between business and technology
AMOA(Assistance à Maîtrise d’Ouvrage) Finance acts as an essential interface between the finance department’s business teams and the integrator’s technical teams. It translates functional requirements into specifications that can be understood by the configuration teams, and ensures that the solution deployed really does meet user expectations.
In concrete terms,AMOA Finance is involved in :
- Gathering and formalizing business needs
- Writing functional specifications
- Coordination between project owner and project manager throughout the project
- Preparing and leading acceptance phases
- Change management support
Business referents, experts in the field
The business referents – management controllers, accounting managers, treasurers, purchasing managers – are the guarantors of the project’s functional relevance. They are the ones who validate that the target processes correspond to the operational realities of the finance department.
Their involvement right from the scoping phase is essential. A Finance IS project designed without end-users almost always produces a solution that is ill-suited to real needs.
Finance IS project: deployment and training
In order to ensure the smooth running of the change management process, which begins as soon as the IS project is conceptualized, various aspects must be taken into account. In this perspective, it is necessary to detail the stages of awareness of the project to all employees of the company as well as the terms of the training of the users to the tool. An HR consultant can help with this task.
As for the project manager, who has followed all the stages of the IS project, his mission consists of steering the project, guaranteeing the milestones, managing the budget and ensuring the smooth running of the change management. The project manager can request the assistance of the PMO who is an integral part of the project team. The latter can ensure the coordination of the project phases, the establishment of the task schedule, the implementation of the indicators. The PMO may also be called upon to participate in the animation of steering committees and project committees.
CFO: how should your Finance IS project be governed?
Manage your project effectively and maximize the performance of your Finance IS project team with our guide to the organization, roles and skills to be involved.
Also read in our "project governance" file:
- Project comitology: the governance bodies of an IT project and their roles
- Steering and governance of an HR project: which profiles should be involved?
- Steering and governance of a Finance IS project: which profiles should be involved?
- Steering and governance of an IT project: which profiles should be involved?
- Project governance: what role for the steering committee?
- The actors of a project team: organization, role and skills
- The IS manager at the heart of the development and evolution of systems
- HRIS Manager: what role in the evolution of HR Information Systems?
- IS project manager: what role and responsibility in an IS project?
- Functional consultant: a role close to the business processes
- Technical consultant: a profession at the heart of technological development
- Solution architect: a profession that manages development and deployment
- DevOps Consultant: role, missions and development skills
- Data Protection Officer (DPO): what roles and missions?
- CISO: a key job within the business for system security
- The service delivery manager at the heart of team management
- Scrum master, a key profession for Scrum project management
- Data scientist: a strategic profession at the service of management
- MOA / MOE: how are the roles divided on a project of implementation of an information system?
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FAQ – Finance IS project governance
What is Finance IS project governance?
The governance of a Finance IS project refers to all the mechanisms that ensure the direction, control and coordination of the project. It defines who decides, who steers and who validates at each stage, from scoping to deployment.
Well-structured governance is one of the key factors in the success of ERP Finance projects and the transformation of financial information systems.
What are the 4 pillars of good project governance?
The 4 pillars of effective project governance are :
- strategic alignment (the project contributes to the company's objectives);
- risk management (risks are identified, assessed and managed) ;
- performance (the project is delivered on time, on budget and with the expected quality);
- and transparency (stakeholders receive clear, up-to-date information on project progress).
Which profiles should be involved in an ERP Finance project?
An ERP Finance project mobilizes several key profiles: the CFO as strategic sponsor, the CIO as guarantor of the technical architecture, the project manager as operational pivot, the Finance project management team as interface between business and technology, and the business referents (controllers, accountants, treasurers) as field experts.
The composition of the project team must be adapted to the size and complexity of the project.
How do you define the governance of a Finance IS project?
The governance of a Finance IS project is defined in several stages: setting up the steering committee and specifying the roles of each member, formalizing the project charter, defining the decision-making bodies and their levels of authority, establishing the validation and change request management processes, and setting up monitoring tools (dashboard, risk register, COPIL minutes).
This governance must be defined at the scoping stage and maintained throughout the project.
What's the difference between project governance and project management?
Project management means day-to-day operational management: planning, budget, resources, deliverables.
Project governance refers to the strategic and decision-making framework within which project management takes place: who has the authority to decide what, how risks are managed, and how the project is aligned with corporate strategy.
The two are complementary and inseparable in a successful Finance IS project.
