TalkTalk Group dials in digital transformation with Dynamics 365 Finance

TalkTalk Group replaced its aging Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system with Dynamics 365 Finance to address fragmented systems, outdated processes, and drive efficiencies and cost savings while improving controls to meet UK government requirements.

TalkTalk Group transformed its finance operations with Dynamics 365 Finance, driving efficiencies, cost savings, and improved controls, while fostering growth and innovation through automation and enhanced reporting capabilities.

TalkTalk Group achieved significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and enhanced decision-making capabilities through the implementation of Dynamics 365 Finance, driving continuous improvements and operational efficiencies across the organization.

Operating in the consumer and business-to-business markets, TalkTalk Group's divisions have been making connections for 4 million customers since 2003. On the consumer front, TalkTalk Telecoms is the UK’s largest value for money connectivity provider, offering broadband, digital TV, phone, and whole-home wireless networking services, while PlatformX Communications (PXC) focuses on the business wholesale markets, offering connectivity, voice, cloud and security underpinned by the UK’s most robust, secure, resilient and reliable network.

TalkTalk Group believes that simple, affordable, reliable, and fair connectivity should be available to everyone, while PXC offers scale, network, agility and support needed for partners to take control of their success. TalkTalk Group doesn’t just talk the talk, it walks the walk, too, investing heavily in its technology infrastructure and continually innovating to deliver a better customer experience. The group replaced its aging Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system with Dynamics 365 Finance to address fragmented systems, and outdated processes and to drive efficiencies and cost savings while improving controls to meet UK government requirements. Along the way, however, Dynamics 365 became the catalyst for digital transformation across the entire Finance organization.

“Dynamics 365 has transformed our business. Previously, 80% of our efforts were consumed by report generation, data manipulation, and validation. Thanks to automation and enhanced reporting capabilities, we now dedicate 80% of our time to strategic initiatives that propel our business forward, fostering growth and innovation.”

Andreas Stepanous, Director, Financial Planning & Analysis, TalkTalk Group

Catalyzing a transformational journey

Fiona Roberts, Finance Director - Finance Transformation at TalkTalk Group, explains that the move to Dynamics 365 represents something much bigger than replacing a system. Instead, she says, “it’s a business change. Dynamics 365 was the catalyst for TalkTalk Group’s transformational journey.”

With its legacy on-premises Dynamics AX 2012 system reaching end of life, TalkTalk Group seized an opportunity. The company knew that replacing the old system would be an opportune time to improve business processes, enhance reporting, and reduce the number of complex integrations with other applications. But the introduction of a new system could also be a catalyst for profound transformation, an opportunity to reevaluate end-to-end finance processes throughout the business—and with the help of implementation partner KPMG, that’s exactly what TalkTalk Group did. From the initiation of transactions to the final stages of financial reporting, the implementation of Dynamics 365 marked the beginning of a transformative journey, one that’s still driving continuous improvements and operational efficiencies across the organization. Brian Lochead, Chief Corporate Services Officer explains that “Dynamics 365 has been instrumental in our transformation, enhancing efficiency and enabling smarter decision making for sustainable growth.”

Hanging up on extra costs

Right away, the company achieved significant cost savings with Dynamics 365. By decommissioning legacy systems, TalkTalk Group saved approximately £100,000 in annual support costs and avoided £140,000 in infrastructure upgrades. Improved data capabilities are projected to save an additional £250,000 annually in audit costs.

Roberts estimates that new processes made possible by Dynamics 365 are saving the company between half and three-quarters of a million pounds per year, including the potential savings in labor.

“Dynamics 365 has been instrumental in our transformation, enhancing efficiency and enabling smarter decision making for sustainable growth.”

Brian Lochead, Chief Corporate Services Officer, TalkTalk Group

Standardizing and automating for improved efficiency

Previously, TalkTalk Group operated with a single payables ledger for more than 50 entities, an approach that created inefficiencies, manual reallocations, and increased the risk of errors. Crucial tasks like creating a detailed accounting journal entry were time-consuming and required significant manual effort, often involving complex data entry and multiple steps in multiple systems.

The company undertook a major overhaul, standardizing its Chart of Accounts and replacing legacy processes that were burdened with outdated structures with automated workflows. For example, Naweed Akhtar, Finance Systems Transformation Manager, describes how “accountants can now create a journal in Microsoft Excel, ensuring the data is in the right format with pre validated data entry points, and upload it to Dynamics 365 with the click of a button.” From there the journal goes through streamlined approval workflows and is reflected in a Microsoft Power BI report within minutes, giving the accounting team instant access to financial insights. Real-time availability of data allows for quick verification, ensuring accuracy and reducing the time spent manually generating and checking reports. Accountants no longer need to run separate Excel reports or cross-reference data, because the system continuously refreshes with new information.

The intercompany process has improved as well, now that teams no longer need to post numerous intercompany journals between soft and hard period close. Previously, they had to determine which costs belonged to specific companies by cost center and manually move them into the appropriate legal entities after the soft period close. With the new system, this step is no longer necessary and the whole process is half a day faster.

Automating billing

TalkTalk Group handles billing through several systems that process large volumes of transactions. Middleware developed in Azure by KPMG monitors billing system folders, automatically transferring new data to Dynamics 365 and sending email notifications for quick remediation of errors when needed. Azure Logic Apps constantly monitors and manages the data flow to ensure smooth operation.

Each billing system functions like an accounts receivable sub-ledger which manages the entire billing life cycle—calculating bills, issuing invoices, processing payments, and managing credits. At the end of each month, aggregated data, detailed to the customer and product level, is imported from each billing system into Dynamics 365 Finance, allowing for detailed financial analysis without overwhelming the Dynamics 365 system with millions of transactions. Payments recorded in the billing systems are also imported into Dynamics 365 Finance, ensuring that Accounts Receivable data is accurate and up to date.

Automating AP and period close activities

TalkTalk Group processes approximately 2,000 vendor invoices each month. The company integrated Medius AP Automation with Dynamics 365 Finance to manage the volume efficiently, streamlining its Accounts Payable (AP) operations and reducing manual, offline intervention through automation.

TalkTalk Group’s AP process is touchless when invoice processing procedures are correctly followed. Key to this automation is the group’s "No Purchase Order, No Pay" policy, which requires that all invoices reference a valid, pre-approved PO. If the PO has been fully receipted and the invoice matches the PO, Dynamics 365 processes the invoice automatically without manual touchpoints. When invoices deviate from the standard process, Medius provides robust workflows to handle exceptions. The seamless integration between Medius and Dynamics 365 also facilitates real-time monitoring and reporting of invoice status, allowing TalkTalk Group to optimize cash flow management and maintain strong financial controls, ensuring accountability while maintaining process efficiency.

An integration with Financial Close and Workflow Automation by FloQast automates period-end close ensuring financial controls are met.

Better reporting

Standardization and automation brought not just cleaner, more efficient data management but also better reporting. By replacing Oracle Hyperion Financial Management with the out-of-the-box reporting capabilities of Dynamics 365 Finance, TalkTalk Group now has an integrated, real-time platform for consolidating financial data across all legal entities. Not only can the finance team make faster, more informed decisions, but internal reconciliation and month-end closing processes are significantly faster and more efficient without the need for complex interfaces.

TalkTalk Group now uses a combination of financial reporting capabilities in Dynamics 365 Finance and Power BI reports:

Dynamics 365 inbuilt Financial Reporter handles static, historical financial data—ideal for past-looking reports like financial statements, where consistency and fixed outputs are critical.
Microsoft Fabric and Power BI are used for dynamic, forward-looking analysis, allowing teams to slice and dice data, analyze trends, and generate interactive dashboards.
For critical activities like account reconciliations, the finance team relies directly on Dynamics 365’s native queries, ensuring that they’re working with complete, unfiltered data and avoiding errors that might arise from accidental filters or refresh delays in Power BI.

Andreas Stepanous, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis sees a stark impact. “Dynamics 365 has transformed our business. Previously, 80% of our efforts were consumed by report generation, data manipulation, and validation. Thanks to automation and enhanced reporting capabilities, we now dedicate 80% of our time to strategic initiatives that propel our business forward, fostering growth and innovation.”

The future is calling

Roberts appreciates the holistic infrastructure boost that Dynamics 365 provides. “It’s not just about speed; it’s about ensuring compliance,” she explains. “While it’s true that the process of getting journals into the system is faster, the real value we’re seeing as a business comes from having the ability to ensure that journals are reviewed when we expect them to be. TalkTalk Group aligns with the UK’s corporate governance principles, and the environment is becoming increasingly more regulated. Dynamics 365 ensures we’re heading in the right direction now to meet future regulatory needs. Having a system that supports our compliance efforts is critical—it's not just about business efficiency but ensuring we’re getting the right numbers to back a strong, profitable business in the long term.”

TalkTalk Group values the robust flexibility of Dynamics 365 to support the operational needs of today and its scalability to meet the needs of the future. Reflecting on the company’s digital transformation, Roberts says that Dynamics 365 has “not only modernized our financial operations but has also fostered a culture of continuous improvement, positioning us for sustained growth and innovation.” Now that’s a call worth taking.