Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology infrastructure business operating across 100 legal entities in 20 countries and currencies, faced a budgeting process that was threatening to collapse under its own complexity. CFO Frederick Nel led a finance transformation that cut the budgeting cycle by 75% — from 3-4 weeks to under 1 week — while simultaneously improving data integrity.
CFO Frederick Nel's candor in this case study about the pre-transformation nightmare — spreadsheet files emailed across 20 countries, modified by intermediate managers before reaching group finance, with manual currency conversions and days-long intercompany eliminations — makes it one of the most vivid and relatable descriptions of multinational FP&A pain available. The contrast with the post-transformation experience is equally vivid.
The Multi-Currency, Multi-Entity Challenge
Cassava's finance complexity is exceptional even by multinational standards. With operations spanning Sub-Saharan Africa, they deal with highly volatile currencies (some without liquid forward markets), intercompany transactions across 100 entities, local regulatory reporting requirements in 20 jurisdictions, and a group consolidation that requires eliminating intercompany positions at multiple levels.
- 100 legal entities across 20 countries
- 20 currencies including highly volatile African currencies
- Complex intercompany transaction network requiring elimination at consolidation
- Local regulatory reporting requirements differ significantly across jurisdictions
The Pre-Transformation Nightmare
Before Anaplan, Cassava's budget process was an orchestrated nightmare of spreadsheet files sent by email across 20 countries. Version control was impossible — the CFO regularly received budget submissions that had been modified by intermediate managers before reaching group finance. Currency conversions were manual. Intercompany eliminations took days. The process was so painful that business unit leaders dreaded budget season and submitted minimal-effort spreadsheets.
The Anaplan Architecture
Cassava's Anaplan implementation was designed around three core requirements: local-currency input with automatic group-currency conversion, real-time intercompany matching and elimination, and a single consolidated model that every entity could access simultaneously. The currency module alone — handling spot rates, forward rates, and budget rates for 20 African currencies — required significant custom configuration.
Results: Speed, Accuracy, and Cultural Change
The measurable results are striking, but CFO Frederick Nel emphasises that the cultural impact may be more valuable long-term.
- Budget cycle: 3-4 weeks → under 1 week (75% reduction)
- Intercompany elimination: from days to hours (automated)
- Zero manual currency conversion errors in first full cycle
- Business unit leaders now actively engage with the budget — submission quality dramatically improved
Before Anaplan, budget season was something our business unit leaders dreaded. Now they actively engage because they can see their data in context and the process doesn't consume weeks of their time.— Frederick Nel, CFO, Cassava Technologies (Anaplan Case Study, Mar 2025)
Practical Implementation Checklist
- For multi-currency operations: define your budget rate, spot rate, and period-average rate policies explicitly before implementation — currency rate inconsistencies are the most common source of inter-entity consolidation errors
- Map your intercompany transaction network before platform selection: the volume and complexity of intercompany flows is the primary driver of implementation complexity and a key differentiator between planning platforms
- Invest in local finance team training in each market before go-live — in multinational implementations, local adoption quality determines consolidated data quality
- Design the system to allow local-currency input with automatic group-currency conversion — forcing local markets to enter data in group currency creates errors and reduces engagement
- Run a pilot implementation with your most complex market (highest currency volatility, most intercompany transactions) before rolling out broadly — if the platform works for the hardest case, it will work everywhere
- Establish a group finance team as the single governance authority for chart of accounts, entity structure, and currency rates — local teams must be able to customise within that framework, not override it
Cassava Technologies' 75% budgeting cycle reduction across 100 entities and 20 currencies represents one of the most complex FP&A transformations documented. The cultural change — business unit leaders moving from minimal-effort budget submissions to active engagement — may be the more durable achievement, because it signals that the finance function has genuinely become a partner rather than an overhead.
Key Takeaways
Multi-entity, multi-currency planning is solvable without custom ERP development
75% faster budgeting — but the cultural change (higher-quality submissions, more engagement) may be the bigger win
Automated intercompany elimination removes one of the biggest consolidation bottlenecks
Currency handling for emerging market currencies requires specific platform expertise
Start with the consolidation and currency challenges — solving them unlocks everything else
Local finance team training quality is the primary determinant of consolidated data quality in multinational implementations
Pilot with your most complex market first — if the platform handles your hardest case, the rest follows
