mv/ IT

close · margin · forecast · partnering_

Matteo Valentini

  • Finance & controlling leadership
  • Finance transformation design

on demand

As a fractional CFO, I help the owner run the business on the numbers: fast close, margin by product and customer, a reporting package that holds up in front of the bank, the owners and the management team.

For corporate groups: finance transformation design and interim roles — ERP finance implementation, close redesign, controlling frameworks.

Write to meBook a 30-minute call
Prepared for
owners, banks, management teams
Scope
SMEs €5–100M · corporate groups
Base
Berlin · Bologna · remote across Europe
1

Executive summary

AreaContentTools
01Close and reporting packageI redesign the close process: calendar, cut-off, accruals and deferrals, reconciliations, inventory valuation, cost allocation. Result: one monthly reporting package for owner, bank and management within the first week, that holds up in audit.
  • Close calendar
  • Cut-off and accruals
  • Reconciliations
  • Reporting package
02Costing and marginStandard and actual costing, margin by product family and customer, inventory valuation, variances read with operations in terms of volumes, yields and utilisation.
  • Standard costing
  • ABC
  • Margin by product
  • Variance analysis
03Budget, forecast and cashBudget tied to commercial targets, rolling forecast, cash forecast, scenarios before decisions. The numbers the bank asks for in the plan and at credit-line renewal.
  • Budget
  • Rolling forecast
  • Cash forecast
  • Scenarios
04Finance systems and automationERP finance design (cost centres, analytical accounting) before configuration; automation and AI where they remove manual work. Delivered with an AI engineering partner when the tooling needs building.
  • ERP finance design
  • Cost centres
  • Power BI
  • AI automation
05Advisory & interimFinance and business partnering for owner and management: pricing, investment and organisation decisions read on the numbers. Three to twelve months, when the company has no CFO yet or is between CFOs.
  • Business partnering
  • Advisory
  • Interim
  • 3–12 months
Key figures
12+
years
€30M–500M+
turnover overseen
1–4+
production plants
40+
product lines
20+
countries
2

Projects

Six projects across manufacturing, services and food: the situation, the solution, the tools.

Project 1Service business · EMEA · 2023–present

Results package for a 20+-country service business

Situation
A fast-growing service network across 20+ countries, with energy as the dominant cost; monthly and quarterly results presented to headquarters.
Solution
Designed and expanded the business unit's monthly and quarterly reporting package: integrated financial and operational KPIs and a storytelling that connects finance and business to explain margin, network performance, cost rates and energy price movements. Defined the period cost estimation method, the cost logic and the reporting standards; single aggregation point for the finance teams' inputs. End-to-end process streamlined, simplified and automated with AI together with the data teams.
  • Reporting package
  • Financial and operational KPIs
  • Finance–business storytelling
  • Reporting standards
  • AI automation
Project 2Industrial group · 2020–2023

Group controlling, close and management reporting

Situation
Headquarters of a group with four production plants in Italy and operations in four countries; budget, forecast, quarterly close and management reporting run from the centre with the plant controllers.
Solution
Led the group controlling function: budget, forecast, product costing, quarterly close and management reporting; customer profitability; operating cash flow evaluation.
  • Budget
  • Forecast
  • Quarterly close
  • Customer profitability
  • Operating cash flow
Project 3Industrial group · 2020–2023

Costing and margin by product and customer

Situation
Margin visible only at company level; standard costs to be rebuilt.
Solution
Rebuilt the product costing model at standard and actual cost; margin reporting by product family and customer segment; monthly inventory valuation and standard-vs-actual variance analysis.
  • Standard cost
  • Actual cost
  • Margin by family
  • Standard/actual variances
Project 4Ceramics group · 2017–2020

Multi-plant costing and OEE

Situation
Capital-intensive ceramics plants in one of Europe's largest groups in the sector: product cost driven by kiln and line utilisation.
Solution
Monthly P&L and variance analysis; quarterly ABC costing cycle; budget and forecast tied to production capacity, CAPEX and OPEX, with ROI appraisal of investments; weekly OEE KPIs and recurring reviews with operations.
  • ABC
  • OEE
  • Production capacity
  • CAPEX / ROI
  • Multi-plant
Project 5Industrial group · 4 countries · 2020–2023

ERP finance implementation, multi-plant industrial group

Situation
Multi-plant group, 40+ product lines, high vertical integration from raw-material processing to finished-product sales; group ERP already in use, new finance modules to implement.
Solution
Directed the implementation of the ERP finance modules — cost-centre accounting and analytical accounting — delivering the group's finance control framework.
  • Infor LN
  • Cost centres
  • Analytical accounting
  • Control framework
Project 6Food group €500M · 2016–2017

Five foreign subsidiaries, three continents

Situation
Five subsidiaries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa reporting under local GAAP.
Solution
Monthly financial statement variance analysis with regional controllers; conversion of reporting from local GAAP to group IFRS policy to protect the consolidation; group reporting on net financial position, CAPEX and margin.
  • IFRS
  • Local GAAP
  • Net financial position
  • Group reporting
3

Method

One method on every engagement: one problem, one metric, a handover your team can run.

  1. 2 weeks

    Health check

    Close, reporting, costing and systems reviewed with the people who run them. Output: written findings and a roadmap with a success metric.

  2. 3 months

    Fixed-scope delivery

    One problem, one fee, one metric. If the metric isn't moving, I say so early.

  3. —

    Handover

    Your team runs it; I stay reachable. No dependency on me by design.

  4. 3–12 months

    Advisory or interim seat

    When the company needs a finance lead or a business partner for a period, I take the seat.

4

Experience

Twelve years across audit, controlling and FP&A, from a single plant to the regional business unit of one of the 20 largest groups in the world by market capitalisation. I have overseen controlling and finance for companies from €30M to over €500M in turnover, from one to four-plus production plants, 40+ product lines, 20+ countries and five foreign subsidiaries, leading direct teams and cross-functional teams in matrix organisations. The common thread: turning accounting data into numbers that operations, owners and headquarters decide on.

berlin · 52.52N 13.40E · bologna

  1. 2023 · today

    Finance & Accounting Lead, Regional Business Unit (EMEA)

    Automotive and energy group among the 20 largest companies in the world by market capitalisation, listed on several markets. P&L across 20+ countries; monthly reporting package delivered on working day 4 and presented to headquarters; period cost estimation method, cost logic and reporting standards.

  2. 2020 · 2023

    Head of Controlling, multi-plant industrial group

    €100M, four plants in Italy, operations in four countries, 40+ product lines, high vertical integration. Budget, forecast, costing, close; ERP finance modules implementation; team of two plus the plant controllers reporting in.

  3. 2017 · 2020

    Industrial Controller, ceramics group

    Multi-plant costing, quarterly ABC, capacity-linked budget, weekly OEE with operations.

  4. 2016 · 2017

    Financial Controller, food group €500M

    Five foreign subsidiaries across three continents; local GAAP to IFRS conversion.

  5. 2014 · 2016

    Audit Associate, Big Four

    Statutory and consolidated audits, Italian GAAP and IFRS; led two engagements.

  6. 2014

    MSc Corporate Management and Consulting

    UNIMORE, 110/110. BSc Economics 2011; Erasmus, Athens University of Economics and Business.

Tools and methods

ERP and systems

  • Infor LN
  • Cost-centre accounting
  • Analytical accounting

Reporting and analytics

  • Power BI
  • IBM Cognos
  • Excel Power Query
  • Power Pivot
  • Access SQL

Costing and control

  • Standard cost
  • Actual cost
  • ABC
  • OEE
  • Variance analysis
  • Rolling forecast
  • Cash forecast

Accounting

  • IFRS
  • Italian GAAP
  • Local GAAP conversion
  • Accruals and cut-off
  • Input consolidation

Automation

  • AI automation (directed)
  • Power Query
  • Data pipelines
  • AI for documents

Method

  • Plan before build
  • One metric per project
  • Handover by design
  • Remote first
5

Corporate groups

For corporate groups the same discipline applies to a larger perimeter: finance transformation design and interim roles.

ERP finance implementation

Cost-centre and analytical accounting designed before configuration; finance control framework for the group.

Close redesign

One calendar, one cut-off discipline, one reporting package across entities.

Controlling frameworks

Standard and actual costing, margin by product and customer, integrated financial and operational KPIs.

see projects: Project 1 · Project 5 · Project 6

6

Questions

What size of company?

Operating companies from about €5M to €100M revenue, typically without a full-time CFO. Larger groups for interim transformation roles.

Remote or on site?

Remote by default. On site for kick-off, close weeks and workshops — Italy, Germany and the rest of Europe.

How do we start?

Two lines on the problem by email. A 30-minute call, free, to see if it makes sense. If yes, a proposal with objective, metric, timing and fee.

Do you do bookkeeping, tax or fundraising?

No. I work with your accountant, not instead of them.

Languages?

Italian and English. Reports in the language of the management team.

AI — what does it actually mean here?

Removing manual steps in close and reporting (document extraction, reconciliations, data pipelines) with measurable before/after. Built with an AI engineering partner; I own the finance design and the result.

7

Sign-off

Have a problem that looks like one of these? Write two lines; I reply within one working day.

Berlin and Bologna. Remote across Europe, on site when needed.

Book a 30-minute call
Email
MatteoValentini.office@gmail.com
Base
Berlin · Bologna · remote across Europe