Systems Recommendations

Topic: Systems Recommendations

Issue

A niche technology company had 100% export sales which required the Managing Director to travel 50% of the time in order to maintain the order book and generate new business. All the financial transactions were completed by the bookkeeper on a desktop-based accounting package and infrequent information was passed on which the MD relied upon for decision making.

Resolution

The Managing Director asked a member of FinanceHeads to take an overview of the system and to come up with appropriate recommendations. This led to the implementation of a cloud-based accounting package that the Managing Director could access globally at any time. The information on the dashboard highlighted important KPI’s (bank balances, debtors, creditors, profitability, etc.) whilst also giving him the accessibility to drill down into the detail to understand further the nature of transactions.

Not only did this give vital information for the success of the business it also highlighted weaknesses within the company that were otherwise hidden.

Impact

As a result of the change in accounting systems the transactional data became more up to date, key sales information regarding pricing and margins became readily available to help negotiations and cash management and treasury decisions were made in anticipation of requirements and not as a ‘fire-fighting’ exercise.

The member of FinanceHeads has been retained within the company to ensure continued improvement in systems, reporting and staff management that could not be exercised by a non-financial Director.