Optimize Performance
Shared services implementation and financial reserves
The Client
A $600M private equity owned distributor of construction materials, accessories and tools for both the commercial and retail markets. The company managed five operations in the U.S., with 1,100 employees.
The Challenge
Not long after a private equity purchase, the management team looked to strengthen the accounting and finance functions, assess financial statement reserves and quickly consolidate the back-office operations for five stand-alone locations. Supporting sales, procurement, inventory, time and expense, revenue cycle (cash receipts and payments), credit and treasury, the client required a full shared services integration with a scalable solution to accommodate an aggressive acquisition strategy.
The Approach
Aligning to an in-process ERP consolidation, Dietrich developed an implementation roadmap to support the successful transition with the following actions:
Shared Service Implementation
- Assessed the locations to determine if an existing location would provide the natural “right” backbone to support the center.
- Documented “as is” accounting and finance process flows for all locations and created a “future state” given requirements of the management team and best practices.
- Identified gaps and organized recommendations for immediate, interim, and long-term workflow and ERP enhancements.
- Created a communication and change management plan to support the six-month movement of functions out of dispersed geographies and into the service center.
- Performed the interim Shared Service Director role while looking to hire in the selected market.
- Drafted job descriptions for all positions and assisted in the interviewing and placement of existing and new team members – ultimately elevating the level of talent.
- Developed, published and trained on policies and procedures.
- Implemented a dashboard with meaningful financial and operational metrics.
Financial Reserves
- Completed reviews of the trial balances, general ledger, book and tax reporting of assets, reserves and liability accruals for consistency, completeness and compliance with accounting standards.
- Created and/or revised accounting policies and procedures to reflect updated methodologies with sample calculations.
- Identified ERP links and functionality to automate some of the calculations contributing to shorter month-end close cycles.
The Result
Dietrich anchored the client with a “One Company, One Base” platform upon which the operation was able to efficiently grow, and easily integrate future planned acquisitions.