Financial Challenge: Inadequate Finance Structure to Support Growth

A closely held functional outsourcing company was experiencing explosive revenue growth but wasn’t taking the necessary measures to ensure that its finance support structure was expanding capabilities, processes, systems and personnel to support the growth. The finance department continued to operate on antiquated systems with manual processes and a serious lack of financial oversight and controls. As a result, as the company grew, it increasingly experienced delays in customer invoice issuance, a significant level of customer invoice errors, haphazard financial reporting, increased days sales outstanding from unsupervised accounts receivable tracking, vendors clamoring for payment, and uncertainty of its cash availability. Lack of structure was seriously threatening bringing the company down during a period of increasing revenues and profits.

SBC SOLUTION

Relying on SBC’s experience in building finance organizations, SBC was engaged to plan, structure and implement a corrective course of action. SBC performed a thorough review of the company’s business and financial operations by meeting with company management and support staff. SBC also performed a review of finance processes, systems and personnel. SBC then prepared a short and long-term plan for building a structure that could support the rapid growth dynamics of the company. It addressed the immediate needs of upgrading certain positions within the finance staff, adding internal finance leadership, defining roles within the team, initiating processes and controls around functional areas and financial reporting. Implementation of the plan is currently underway under SBC oversight. The company has made great strides in upgrading some of the finance functions by addressing the more critical obstacles, and continues the build of the needed internal finance function.