Workiva in Practice: Why this approach convinces us
Last week, we were in Frankfurt. Workiva had invited partners to discuss go-to-market strategies together. These kinds of meetings are always valuable: you get a sense of how others work, what’s effective, and where the challenges lie.
At the same time, it was a good opportunity to reflect on why we entered into this partnership in the first place – and what really drives us about it.
The core question: Where do the data live?
Many of the reporting issues we see with our clients have the same root cause: data exists in too many places at once. One number in SAP, a derived version in Excel, an updated version in a PowerPoint – and at some point, no one knows which figure is the correct one anymore.
This isn’t a tool problem, it’s a structural one. And it doesn’t just affect financial data – it increasingly applies to non-financial metrics as well (sustainability, ESG, CSRD, etc.). The volume of data is growing, and so are the requirements for auditability and transparency.
What we find compelling about Workiva is not a single feature – it’s the underlying principle: a single source from which everything flows. Data is captured once, connected, and then used across different contexts: annual reports, sustainability reports, or internal management. If a number changes at the source, it automatically updates everywhere else – without manual synchronization and without introducing additional sources of error.
Collaboration not as a feature, but as a principle
What excites us even more? The idea that reporting is not a relay race.
In many companies, the process works like this: Controlling provides the numbers, then another team writes the narrative, followed by a legal review – and in the end, everything goes back again for alignment. Everyone is waiting for someone else, and everyone works in their own separate file.
Workiva turns this around. Teams work simultaneously on the same content, with full transparency on who changed what and when. This doesn’t just change the process – it changes the sense of shared ownership for a report.
And what about the other tools?
We are not platform fundamentalists. Workiva is not the answer to everything, and we continue to work with our clients on other systems – and we think that’s a good thing.
The real challenge is understanding which tool is right for which purpose, and how to build a landscape where everything works well together.
What we appreciate about Workiva: it doesn’t try to replace everything. SAP remains SAP, Excel remains Excel. Workiva pulls data from these systems and provides a shared framework. That’s a pragmatic approach we value.
What we’re seeing so far
We are already supporting several clients across different industries, each with different starting points on Workiva. One thing is consistent: the transition requires effort at the beginning, but the impact is tangible.
Less manual work during year-end processes, greater trust in the data, and improved collaboration between teams that previously barely interacted.
This reinforces our decision to continue down this path and support more companies facing similar challenges.
If you’re curious what this could look like in your specific situation, we’d be happy to talk – not as a pitch, but as a conversation.
