Quick Summary

• Problem: 12 versions of the truth; reconciliation chaos; delayed close.

• Fix: Azure Fabric warehouse + Databricks prep + Power BI semantic layer + RLS.

• Impact: 60% faster month-end; zero mismatched reports; audit-ready lineage.

• Why it matters: Strategy begins when finance, ops, and leadership trust the same number.

Story Narrative

The CFO’s most asked question—“Why don’t these numbers match?”—is really about governance. We discovered that each team adjusted extracts “a little” to suit their needs. Those “little” edits multiplied into systemic drift.

We centralized ingestion through Fabric and orchestrated transformations in Databricks with unit-tested logic: exchange rate normalization, cut-off windows, accrual allocation, and fund-level rollups. A Power BI semantic model codified KPIs—EBITDA, settled vs. unsettled, liquidity coverage—so definitions lived in code, not memory. Row-level security ensured the right visibility without new work for finance.

Closing turned from a reconciliation marathon into a review sprint. The board pack arrived earlier, with lineage showing how every metric formed. When auditors asked “how was this derived?” the answer was one click, not ten emails. Transformation isn’t flash—it’s discipline turned into design.