How the Bauer Group Modernized its Financial Processes with insightsoftware

Particularly in equity controlling or group consolidation, many companies still work primarily with Excel spreadsheets that are passed back and forth between parent and subsidiary companies. However, such an approach is accompanied by some disadvantages, which are evident in the additional manual effort, input errors or a lack of transparency. The Bauer Group shows a successful alternative to this. By deploying multiple software solutions built around IDL Konsis, the company has fully digitized its reporting – and is accordingly prepared for the future.

The Bauer Group is a world leader in specialty foundation engineering. As of 2024, the company employed approximately 11,000 people in numerous subsidiaries around the globe, with consolidated revenue of 2.2 billion euros. In accounting terms, these are divided into four groups, each with its own reporting requirements. Due to this complex group structure, a rather heterogeneous system landscape had developed over the years. While Central Europe relied on SAP S/4HANA, it remained with SAP Business One abroad, always complemented by various local solutions. Over time, however, several weaknesses became apparent: It was hardly possible to consolidate financial statements in a uniform way — for example because Excel still seemed irreplaceable or because not all entities reported under IFRS. As a result, the Bauer Group’s structure required coordinated, IFRS-compliant reporting processes that function reliably even without months of coordination Between departments and countries. [customer_testimonial]

In Brief: How the Bauer Group is Proceeding Now

• IDL Konsis established in the long term, now supplemented by Viareport Lease and Longview Tax from insightsoftware

• Manual Excel reporting in subsidiaries minimized

• Automated data reporting via a standard SAP interface

• Notifications and sign-offs via a shared web portal

• Automatic data integration and aggregation via a central Database

• Easy customization of report packages and KPIs

• Group-wide analysis of figures and Comments as Team

• Audit-proof process documentation

The Bauer Group has been preparing consolidated financial statements with IDL Konsis for years. Each affiliated company transmits its data directly to the central consolidation system — automatically via dedicated interfaces or by entering data in the online portal. Data collection is managed via the IDL workflow feature, making the current processing status visible at any time. In doing so, the Bauer Group laid the foundation for standardized, traceable financial processes. The insightsoftware tools connected the various ERP systems and enabled the consolidation of heterogeneous data sources within a central reporting framework:

• Standardized reports: All subsidiaries now access the same database.

• Flexible entry: Bookings can be loaded directly into IDL Konsis or via the XLS Link.

• High data quality: Automatic Validations and outlier checks prevent errors even before they occur.

These benefits are especially evident in the context of the new Pillar 2 requirements. What used to require days of Excel analysis can now be implemented much faster, more structured and more securely.

“The move From Excel to online data collection with IDL is paying Off – we are now saving two working days on monthly reporting.” – Daniel Reil, Head of Group Accounting, Bauer Group

IDL Konsis continues to form the stable foundation for the Bauer Group's consolidation operations. Based on this, the company decided to add further specialized solutions from insightsoftware — not as a replacement, but as a functional extension of the existing setup. This move was primarily driven by the Company's continued growth and additional technical and regulatory requirements. In addition to the actual consolidation in particular, new needs arose, for example in contract and lease management as well as in tax reporting relating to Pillar 2.

Viareport Lease

The Bauer Group had previously used a separate system for lease management, but it no longer met the growing professional and operational requirements. Therefore, since 2025, Viareport Lease has been fully deployed to meet all IFRS 16 requirements: structured, traceable, and directly integrated into IDL Konsis.

Longview Tax

In the tax area (particularly in connection with Pillar 2), new requirements apply that would create a significant additional manual workload without specialized software. Longview Tax therefore helps the Bauer Group centrally capture, validate, and analyze tax data, significantly reducing both the time involved and the risk of errors. Another key advantage of the platform is its centralized user and master data management. New entities or employees are set up once centrally and can be assigned directly to the relevant modules. Permissions, data, and workflows are synchronized platform-wide — a decisive factor for a group structure with many subsidiaries.

With insightsoftware’s solutions, the Bauer Group has been able to noticeably accelerate its consolidation and reporting processes and standardize their structure:

• Target: standardization of 70–75% of processes (the remaining processes are handled flexibly via existing insightsoftware modules)

• IFRS financial statements are possible even when not all group entities post locally under IFRS

• Significantly reduced dependency on external consultants

• Improved data quality through integrated validation mechanisms

• Faster implementation of regulatory requirements

“With insightsoftware, we now have a platform on which we can centrally manage reporting, tax, and leasing while staying flexible. This saves Time, money and nerves.” – Daniel Reil, Head of Group Accounting, Bauer Group

The demands on consolidated accounting and tax reporting are increasing, especially due to new regulations such as Pillar 2. Without dedicated, proven software, the resulting effort would be enormous: countless manual intermediate steps, lack of transparency throughout the Process, high risk of errors and the like. By implementing a holistic system, the Bauer Group is optimally positioned thanks to its partnership with insightsoftware:

• Unified database across All systems

• Efficient processes for IFRS and other tax requirements

• High flexibility in view of future regulatory changes

“An IFRS closing with entities that don’t post under IFRS is always a challenge,” confirms Daniel Reil. “With insightsoftware we have a solution that gives us enough flexibility to handle exactly that – without compromising on data quality or traceability.”