Frequently asked questions

CSBERG GmbH in Hamburg. It has two divisions: consulting, which I, Carsten Schönberg, lead myself, and the software division with management information systems and Datenbrücke. I have more than 15 years of line management experience across nine companies, from large corporates to PE-backed mid-market businesses: as CFO, CIO, managing director of a shared service center and head of Finance IT. I have led more than 20 M&A integrations and over 30 ERP, BI and CRM projects. That project work gave rise to Datenbrücke, the DATEV-native controlling cockpit for reports, planning and analysis.

I have held the roles my clients hold. I have run ERP migrations, built finance functions, led post-merger integrations and managed treasury departments — not as an advisor watching from the side, but as the person accountable for the outcome. And I build for handover: every engagement ends with your team able to own the result.

With me. The person you meet in the first conversation is the person who does the work. Where a project needs specific depth, I bring in experienced specialists from my network, by agreement. There are no juniors learning on your engagement.

In Hamburg, Germany. I work across the German-speaking region and internationally, including the UK and Austria so far. I am on site during critical phases; analysis and implementation often run remotely. The mix depends on the project.

Yes, fully. I have worked in international environments throughout my career, including UK ERP rollouts, international shared service centers and corporate M&A integration programs. All deliverables are available in English or German.

Every engagement is covered by a non-disclosure agreement. I only name clients or share project details with explicit written permission. That also applies to the case studies on this site.

A structured assessment of your finance, data and process landscape at a fixed fee. It is designed for organizations that know something isn’t working — reporting takes too long, the ERP doesn’t reflect how the business runs, finance and operations are misaligned — but aren’t sure where to start. It delivers a prioritized roadmap, with no obligation to continue working with me.

The Quick Check takes five days and starts at €7,500. It gives a high-level overview across all three dimensions, a top-five priority list and an executive summary. The Full Check takes two weeks and starts at €15,000. It includes stakeholder interviews at all levels, BPMN process documentation, a full gap analysis and a roadmap with effort and timeline estimates. It is the right choice when a significant investment is on the horizon, such as a new ERP or a post-merger integration.

Yes. In consulting I don’t hand over a report and leave. I stay involved through implementation as project lead, with functional and technical oversight and change management. I have led ERP rollouts and integrations from design through go-live. Reporting, data architecture and planning are built and operated by the software division of CSBERG GmbH.

I am not tied to any vendor. ERP: SAP (R/3, S/4HANA, FI/CO), Microsoft Dynamics (AX 2012, D365, NAV) and DATEV. BI: Power BI, Azure SQL, Azure Data Factory, ATLAS BI and Qlikview. CRM: Microsoft CRM, Salesforce, Creatio and HubSpot. I follow the process and the data, not the vendor.

Down to the interface and data model level. Datenbrücke, the software product of CSBERG GmbH, connects DATEV to modern BI and analytics infrastructure; its architecture and data model come from my project work. So the experience comes from production, not theory. If your financial data lives in DATEV and you want to do more with it, that is my core area.

No. Consulting and software are separate divisions of CSBERG GmbH, and Datenbrücke is a product of the software division. I recommend the tools that fit your organization. Whether Datenbrücke is one of them is an open question, not a prerequisite.

Both. I take on interim roles as CFO, CIO or program lead, and I work on projects with defined scope and deliverables. Many clients start with a Clarity Check or a clearly defined project and extend into a longer advisory or interim relationship.

On fixed fees wherever scope allows. I scope carefully upfront so you know what you get and what it costs before any commitment. Larger engagements are structured in phases with defined milestones. I do not do open-ended time and materials.

The Quick Check starts at €7,500, the Full Check at €15,000. Projects typically range from €25,000 to €150,000 or more, depending on scope and duration. A CFO or CIO retainer starts at €4,500 per month. If something is outside that range, I tell you before you invest time.

Yes. As a retainer I am your part-time CFO or CIO, typically two to four days per month. The minimum term is three months, and most relationships run six to twelve months. A retainer can also run alongside a project, as a standing senior contact between project phases.

It starts with an initial conversation, free of charge and without obligation. I then propose scope, timeline and a fixed fee. If you proceed, we start with an on-site kick-off and work through phases with clear milestones and deliverables. Every engagement ends with a formal handover so your team owns the outcome.

I tell you before I act on it. I never expand the work without your explicit agreement and a revised proposal. If a Clarity Check shows the real problem is larger or different than expected, we discuss it openly and you decide how to proceed.