Consulting Services

Clarkson ITT provides a range of consulting services that assist our clients with the development or overhaul of forecasting and valuation models; financial management and reporting systems; integration with external data sources; and development of desktop applications ir add-ins to extend Excel and other Office applications..

Modelling services include:

  • Valuation and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) models
  • Project and Public Private Partnership (PPP) models
  • Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) models
  • Business Forecasting, Budgeting, Initiative and Project models
  • Logistical and Production Planning models

Attributes and features of the models that we develop:

  • multiple scenarios per model, from a small range of drivers to large tables of multi-year, sub-project drivers
  • scenario-sensitive capital expenditures to allow different capex programs to be modelled
  • VBA-free scenario analysis, most models can run all scenarios simultaneously for case comparison
  • debt modelling with interest being calculated without recourse to circular references;
    integrated three-way profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow
  • summary reports, dashboards and waterfall charts for comparison of scenario outcomes to aid in decision making
  • customised styling to match corporate livery and style guide
  • full documentation, including structure, rules and step-by-step instructions for routine tasks and procedures
  • where appropriate, established enterprise layout and approaches will be used to make the model as comfortable to use and maintain for staff
  • designed to be end-user maintainable, with tables to allow easy ongoing configuration by users.
    built using our FROSTED Checklist
  • complies with FAST Standard standards. Where variations to the standards arise, they will be disclosed in the documentation

 

Analytical report and dashboard services include:

  • Dashboards built with Power BI Desktop and Excel-based reporting
  • Reporting tools using Power BI Desktop and Excel-based tools
  • Cleansing and structuring of Excel and external data stores to aid reporting
  • IRESS and Bloomberg data integration
  • professionally written VBA and add-in automation of data collection and reporting tasks where appropriate

Attributes and features of our BI tools and dashboards:

  • built in Excel or Power BI desktop, as appropriate to the project
  • integration to ERP data and other internal management and reporting data sources
  • integration with internal data warehouses
  • integration of external data sources, including, but not limited to IRESS, Bloomberg, ABS data sets, RBA data sets and ASX data sets
  • efficient use of Power Query, Power Pivot and DAX to provide robust reports, designed to be end-user maintainable where appropriate
  • user-selection and drill-down implemented in native and Power BI reports
  • customised styling to match corporate livery and style guide
  • provision of ribbon-based automation through VBA and add-ins where required
  • full documentation including structure, explanation of query steps, KPI and date table calculations to enable end-user maintenance
  • step-by-step instructions for using and maintaining the systems that are delivered

 

Financial planning and analysis tools include:

  • periodic management, board and investor reporting packages: weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-year and annual
  • fund valuation and performance reporting packages, including integration to IRESS and Bloomberg
  • native Excel reporting using efficient and compact calculations and aggregation formulas, including charting results
  • Power BI Reporting and Dashboards as set out in the Power BI and Dashboards tab of this page
  • budgeting and rolling forecasting packages and tools
  • integration to Word, PowerPoint and Outlook and automation of document foundry and distribution to management, employees and investors
  • scheduling and calendaring tools for management and financial reporting activities
  • payroll and staff planning tools, including award condition audit

Attributes and features of our Financial Planning and Analysis tools:

  • effective selection of the most efficient and appropriate tools for task
  • formula and tool selection designed for compactness, speed and efficiency without loosing transparency of calculation
  • integrated to rely on existing data stores, rather than building stand-alone data sets
  • end-user friendly, and designed for efficient use, with regard to data flows, timing and deadlines for reporting
  • end-user maintainable tables to simplify maintenance as data sets evolve
  • automated where appropriate with professionally written code integrated into the Office ribbons
  • full documentation including step-by-step procedures to operate and maintain the packages
  • built using our FROSTED Checklist

 

Application and Add-In development services include:

  • development of standardised Excel, Word and PowerPoint templates implementing corporate branding and preferred styles for reporting, modelling and analytical projects
  • Excel-based applications and add-ins providing automated workflows and reporting, including distribution via Outlook or Gmail
  • Excel-based applications and add-ins integrating with Word and PowerPoint for document foundry
  • Excel-based applications and add-ins integrating external data sources such as IRESS, Bloomberg, ABS and RBA data
  • COM (Component Object Model) add-ins for use in all Office desktop applications
  • Word-based applications and add-ins to automate distribution of information to staff, clients and investors

Attributes and features of our applications and add-ins:

  • professionally written code
  • fully documented with end-user instructions and step-by-step guides for command usage
  • setup and installation routines where required for wide deployment.
  • integration with Office ribbon, including use of fully licenced professional icons
  • all components either developed in-house or fully licenced from third parties
  • in-house developed standardised code that has evolved and been real-world tested over more than twenty-five years of development

Development Technologies Utilised:

  • Office 365 desktop and web
  • Power BI desktop and web
  • Power BI add-ins for Excel
  • Visual Basic for Applications in all Office desktop apps
  • Visual Studio (VB mainly) and Visual Studio.Net (VB.NET principally, but other languages as required)
  • SQL and related workbenches

 

How we quote and engage:

  • no obligation, no charge quotation
  • for a clearly defined and clearly specified project, fixed price quotation can be provided
  • less well-defined specifications will be quoted with an expected cost and a range for contingency. 80% of projects come in on or near expected cost. Contingency is only charged with prior consent
  • online project management tools used to track project and cost
  • documentation is provided and a formal User Acceptance Testing phase is usually included
  • there is no charge and no time limit on make good and bug fixes as these are covered by the quoted charge
  • future enhancements are based on the original quoted hourly rates with CPI indexation. Subject to quotation, but with no unexpected price hikes

 

Contact us to discuss our services and how we might help you with a project.