Each year, SSP brings together contributions from multiple teams to produce its Annual Report under tight deadlines.
Accuracy, clarity, and coordination are critical, yet not always easy, when working across so many departments.
A high-stakes report slowed by spreadsheets
For a company operating 550+ outlets in 35 countries, the process behind the numbers is just as important as the numbers themselves.
Before Atticus, verification was managed entirely through spreadsheets. Page numbers were listed line by line, with references logged manually.
Colleagues across CoSec, Finance, Communications, and Investor Relations all had to track their sections while juggling day-to-day responsibilities. Right at the busiest point in the reporting cycle.
Atticus transformed our very manual Excel-based Annual Report verification into a simple, straightforward, slick process, which saved those stakeholders involved in the verification process a lot of time during what is already a busy time.
Beth Fensome
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
From spreadsheets to simplicity
Atticus gave SSP a smoother, more collaborative way to work through the verification process, without a spreadsheet in sight.
The transition was seamless.
Training was provided up front, with annual refreshers to keep every verifier confident and ready for future reporting seasons.
With Atticus, SSP could:
- Quickly search through documents to find relevant substantiating evidence.
- Assign and reassign tasks to share the workload easily.
- Track progress live, with dashboards showing what was verified and what still needs attention.
Each year we use Atticus for our verification, it becomes even easier to add it into our year-end process.
Beth Fensome
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Atticus has gone on to become the default tool for SSP’s Annual Report verification.
“I would recommend Atticus as a simple, straightforward platform” says Fensome. “It has transformed how we verify our documents.”
The features supporting SSP’s collaboration
- Role and assignment features allow individuals at SSP to easily share the verification workload with other team members.
- The dashboard visualises how much of the verification work is still outstanding, making it easy for project managers to monitor progress.
- Document linking allows SSP to reference the same source document against repeated data points in an annual report.
