RTL: standardizing financial operations through a global SAP S/4HANA transformation

SAP S/4HANA

RTL Group is a leading European entertainment company, with interests in broadcasting, production, digital media and publishing. The group operates numerous television channels and radio stations across Europe, and is also a major player in content production.

The challenge

RTL Group faced significant challenges in managing its financial operations due to disparate systems (three separate SAP ECC systems in Hamburg, Cologne, and Luxembourg).

Besides the systems being isolated, the SAP ECC systems where outdated and thus unable to support modern financial demands such as real-time data processing, embedded analytics, and automation.

These issues presented an opportunity to modernize the IT landscape by migrating to SAP S/4HANA for enhanced system capabilities, data consistency, and operational efficiency.

Our solution

Implementation of S/4 Hana through the Intellus hybid project approach:

  • Collaborative workshops with stakeholders across various entities to gather requirements and align on objectives
  • Global Template Development: based on SAP S/4HANA best practices across P2P, O2C, R2R, C&T Controlling with a clear focus on simplification & standardization
  • Contextualized Standard where we balanced best practices with specific RTL business needs
  • Phased Rollout to ensure minimal disruption while refining the system based on feedback.

The business value

Standardized financial processes across all entities

Improved liquidity management through cash pooling

Automated intercompany flows and reconciliation reduced manual errors

Compliance was strengthened with interest calculations and statements

The implementation of embedded analytics improved decision-making by providing real-time insights into financial performance.

Visualizing data highlighted errors in source systems, indirectly enhancing data quality.