Results

• US able to unlock the value of its programmatic and operations human resources who now could focus solely on stimulating growth and executing against the US mission.
• China, as an independent entity, can drive towards greater productivity and efficiency by creating its own policies, processes, and procedures and focus on future growth including opportunities to invest in their core business and improve their working capital.

Company Profile & Position

• 501(c)3, based in San Francisco, whose mission is to secure a clean and equity energy future to tackle the climate crisis
• CFO

Situation

• The previous finance executive who had been on board for 6 years departed for another opportunity.
• In December 2018, the board approved the separation of US and China operations into two independent public charities; early stages of this transition began in May 2019.
• Board had set June 1, 2019, as the date for the asset transfer and formal legal and financial separation of the two entities.
• In order to effect the transaction, Netsuite (financial system of record) work on custom subsidiaries had to be completed and the US entity require a new legal entity with new state tax IDs

Implementation

• Developed a project plan and roadmap including deliverables, milestones, and timelines.
• Applied for and obtained all new Federal and State tax IDs, engaged attorney to create new articles of incorporation, and board governance revised.
• Created detailed statement of work and project plan with Ceridian to set up Successor US company payroll in Netsuite and move all employee records under new FEIN and state tax IDs.
• All new bank accounts established for US entity. Analysis completed and approved by US and China teams, as well as auditor, on the dollar value of US and China assets to be allocated to each entity. Moved all US Cash and investments to new US bank accounts; moved all China AR, AP, funders, and vendors to new China GL accounts in Netsuite effective January 2020.
• Developed and received approval on a cost allocation methodology to allocate all US related support costs to China on a quarterly basis through December 2021.
• Partnered with outside consulting firm to identify resources to replace the finance and grants functions currently supported by the US team. Interviewed, selected, and onboarded both finance and grants resources in July 2020.
• Recommended implementing a new instance of Fluxx (existing grants management platform) in China along with a copy of the existing database and BI tool that supports reporting capabilities. Approved vendor SOW and developed project plan. Work completed in 8 weeks, on time and under budget.
• To address audit deficiency, revised China’s process for recognizing and recording grant liabilities.

Cerius Insights – Customer Quote