Company Size & Timeframe
- 50+ employees
- 2-3 days/week, 10 months
Results
- Reduced month-end close from 15 days to 9 days (average)
- Eliminated high turnover
- Contracts stayed within terms and met required budgets
Company Profile & Position
- Part-Time CFO
- Nonprofit providing healthcare services
Situation
- Department was undergoing intense transition with 80% turnover
- Role of senior finance executive was vacant for one year; currently backfilled by senior operations executive
- Reporting took longer than it should, resulting in a perpetual close
- Staff-designed processes resulted in lost time and resources; never achieving accuracy goal
- Many accounting and reporting issues identified, but never resolved or fixed
Implementation
- Reviewed processes and recommended improvements
- Removed unnecessary complexity in accounting and finance operations
- Simplified closing process
- Staffed up mid-level accounting team
- Designed monthly business review process with business segment owners to review implications of the numbers and proposed actions
- Increased visibility on contract spending
- Developed process to eliminate monthly reforecasting based on partial information; moved to a more robust quarterly reforecasting
- Created an annual operating plan
- Created financial recommendations package, including a longer-term plan for several software application changes
- Implemented a weekly cash forecast
- Removed structural errors in days cash on hand calculation and designed a new approach for improved accuracy
- Worked with bank to increase services and generate investment income
Cerius Insights – Customer Quote
“Cerius helped us find an interim for a non-profit within a week. We really enjoyed working with [the interim], and his services and expertise helped us out when we were in a pinch.”