Case studies

The situation

The owners of this fast-growing company were making every decision on instinct: statutory accounts were prepared once a year and monthly numbers arrived months late. It took a loan application to reveal that they couldn't produce the data the bank was asking for.

What we did

We took over financial leadership on a CFO-as-a-Service basis, built the monthly close process and the management reporting pack, and introduced a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast.

Results

• The monthly close now completes by the 8th working day
• The data needed for the loan application was assembled in two days
• The owners now make decisions monthly, based on numbers

The situation

Following an acquisition, the Hungarian subsidiary had to report under IFRS from the next quarterly close onwards. The local team had no IFRS experience.

What we did

We ran the gap analysis between local GAAP and IFRS, prepared the opening balance sheet, drafted local policies aligned with the group's accounting manual, and trained the accounting team.

Results

• The first IFRS report was delivered on deadline
• The group auditor accepted the opening balance sheet without significant findings
• The local team has handled IFRS reporting independently ever since

The situation

Our client planned to acquire a competitor. The target's reported earnings looked strong, but the owners didn't want to rely solely on the materials they had been shown.

What we did

We carried out buy-side financial due diligence: normalising earnings, reviewing the development of working capital and the composition of net debt, and identifying off-balance-sheet liabilities.

Results

• Several one-off, non-recurring revenue items came to light
• The purchase price was adjusted materially on the basis of our findings
• The necessary warranties were built into the agreement

The situation

The finance team was permanently working overtime, the close slipped to the middle of the following month, and by the time the management report was ready it was out of date. They were considering replacing their system.

What we did

We mapped the actual processes and found that much of the problem came from duplicate data entry and manual reconciliation. We redesigned the process, automated incoming invoice processing, and configured features of the existing system that had never been used.

Results

• The close was reduced from 18 working days to 7
• No system replacement was needed — the investment was avoided
• Team overtime fell substantially