5. Case study - Finance function Diagnostic

Client situation

The CEO believed the finance function to be inefficient and reactive. The CFO believed it was due to the lack of investment in systems that the issues existed and that this was also the cause of the high staff turnover in finance.

A finance function diagnostic was required.

Background

The organization was in import and distribution of household goods and had been for a number of years. Recent growth had put pressure on the finance function, and increasing competition was putting pressure on costs, making relevant reporting even more important.

The CFO was also a shareholder in the organization.

Challenges facing the client

The client had to work through the following challenges:

• Highly manual reporting process
• Highly manual processes
• New staff, relying on their own past experience to get things done
• Poorly configured system, not taking into account any process or other needs
• The personality of the CFO
   

Key Outcomes

• Developed processes and got staff involved to get buy-in
• Trained all staff on new processes and identified the talent in the finance function to work on their engagement
• Got the CFO some leadership and management mentoring
• Configured the system with the new processes
   

Result

• Staff retention improved
• Reporting times and accuracy improved
• Elimination of 64% of the spreadsheets previously used