Enterprise Financial Architecture Transformation

Ruthvik Uppaluri led the financial systems transformation at Designer Brands Inc., architecting an enterprise platform that unified three general ledgers and modernized financial planning and reporting across the company’s global footprint. As DBI evolved through acquisitions and vertical integration — from retail-only to a multi-entity operation with sourcing, ecommerce, and brand ownership — Finance lacked the ability to plan or report as a single organization. Ruthvik delivered the platform that made that possible.
He designed and implemented a Unified Chart of Accounts (COA) to consolidate DBI U.S., DBI Canada, and Camuto Group under a single, standardized financial framework. This initiative replaced legacy account structures, aligned segment hierarchies, and eliminated the systemic misalignment that previously required days of manual reconciliation and offline mapping.
Building on this foundation, Ruthvik led the deployment of a cloud-based planning system on Oracle, integrating actuals from Lawson (U.S. and Canada) and ABS through automated, multi-source pipelines. His design included both delta-based and full-refresh logic, enabling actuals to update every three hours and giving Finance teams near real-time visibility into cost structure, margin trends, and operating variance.
He also rebuilt the forecasting logic and reporting views from the ground up, embedding governance-ready planning hierarchies and real-time BvA logic. The result was a planning environment that supported strategic reporting and investor alignment — while reducing Finance cycle times and eliminating Excel-based processes across three countries.
Ruthvik’s solution gave DBI:
• A single financial operating structure across all business units
• Real-time forecasting across regions, brands, and functions
• A scalable architecture to support future ERP and sub-ledger unification
• The ability to produce earnings-ready reporting without manual stitching
Delivered during the height of pandemic disruption and business model acceleration, this transformation gave DBI the financial control, transparency, and agility to plan with confidence and respond to change. Ruthvik didn’t just improve reporting — he gave DBI a new financial core.