Transforming Reporting & Improving Processes
The Situation
A financial services company that conducts its business through a network of broker dealers and financial advisors had recently emerged from bankruptcy and undergone changes in ownership. The Board expressed a need for increased visibility into company-wide financial and operational performance, but the FP&A team was occupied with post-bankruptcy, short-term initiatives. Accordion was engaged to transform the Company’s monthly financial reporting package and to improve the forecasting and Risks & Opportunities (“R&O”) processes.
Services
Process & Controls Implementation
Finance/Accounting Assessment & Design
Project Management Oversight
The Execution
Monthly Reporting Package
- Worked with the CFO and Sr. VP of FP&A to develop a master reporting and KPI metrics matrix in order to analyze and report on:
- Core performance across key financial metrics: Month, YTD, and FY outlook
- Insights on key revenue, expense, cash flow items, and bank covenants
- Trends and analysis across key operational metrics
- Aligned with the internal stakeholders to determine data availability and reliability and designed a structured processes to aggregate relevant data sets
- Developed a reporting cadence and automated processes to generate a monthly Board and management reporting package
- Developed detailed process flow and timeline and trained the FP&A team
FP&A Process Improvements
- Performed Diagnostic assessment of the current forecasting process
- Developed a process roadmap and operating guidelines including a forecast calendar and refined the roles and responsibilities across the FP&A team
- Developed an approach to pressure-test assumptions, track variances, and report R&O’s
- Conceptualized and created forecast templates and trained the FP&A team
- Recommended and implemented process improvements to standardized EBITDA adjustments, including:
- Defined and developed guidelines for one-time normalizations and related thresholds
- Developed a process control document which serves as an internal guide for the monthly close process to better align with business partners
The Results
Accordion delivered a new Management and Board reporting package that provides increased financial and operational visibility. Additionally, our team developed an automated process to generate the reporting packages, a robust forecast and R&O process that gives more visibility of the full year outlook and key R&O’s, and guidelines and a standardized process for EBITDA adjustments.