Operating Model Design

The design of the finance operating model: centralisation versus federation, shared services and GBS, process ownership, outsourcing, and the governance that holds it together.

Themes cut across the nine finance domains. An article lives in one domain, but may speak to this theme from several — which is why this page is an index, not a home.

The finance domains where this theme does most of its work.

If — and only if — technology is part of the answer here, this is the independently assessed market.

Close ManagementReconciliationAP AutomationExpense ManagementProcurement & Spend ManagementClose Management Buyer's GuideReconciliation Software Buyer's GuideAP Automation Buyer's GuideExpense Management Software Buyer's GuideProcurement Software Buyer's GuideBest Close Management Software 2026Best Reconciliation Software 2026Best AP Automation Software 2026Best Expense Management Software 2026Best Procurement Software 2026

How performance in this area is measured, and what comparable finance organisations achieve.

Cost of FinanceFinance ProductivityTeam & OrganizationClose & ReportingAutomation & AI Adoption

Where the answer is a partner rather than a product — the specialisms that deliver work in this area.

Finance Operating ModelShared Services & GBSFinance ModernizationFinance AutomationAI Strategy for Finance

The Executive Finance Assessment reads your organisation against the same maturity spine, decision archetypes and benchmark models used across this pillar — so what you read here and what it tells you about Operating Model Design are expressed in one vocabulary, not two.

Others in Operating & organisational.

Finance Talent & SkillsProductivity & Cost of FinanceData Foundations & Trust

Three questions, in the order finance leaders actually ask them — understand the change, assess your own position, then find the partner who can deliver it. Each step answers one and hands you to the next.