Ensure the closing before handing over to the new CFO while reorganizing the Finance Department.

DAF - Industries

This group of 600 people and 55 billion francs turnover manufactures and distributes printing solutions and direct marketing / communication tools.

The group is organized into around ten business subsidiaries, and hosts a support service (HR, IT, finance) in the holding company. The financial department was until now made up of a financial management unit and a management control unit. But the group’s management wants to reorganize the finance function, placing all finance functions, including management control, under the authority of a CFO.

The fiscal year ends on March 31, the accounts of the group companies must be closed on June 30 and the consolidation carried out in July.

The group is currently facing some delays in the deployment of the new ERP, leading to difficulties in the production of essential financial information (stock valuation for example).

But above all, almost simultaneously the group records the resignations of the financial director, the accounting director and the management controller. The departures of these people are scheduled between the end of January and mid-April.

Recruitments have of course been launched to fill these positions. But both the recruitment deadlines and the current situation – difficulties with the ERP, annual accounting closing period, budget preparation period – as well as the desire to reorganize the finance function, lead the group’s managers to seek a resource very quickly. to ensure continuity of service and deploy the new organization.

This is why this company decided to call on ACTISS to temporarily take over the financial management of the group.

Goals

  • Ensure the closure and act as DAF pending a replacement.
  • Reorganize the Finance function with the departure of the Accounting and Management Control managers

The mission

The main tasks of ACTISS consisted of:

  • Analyze the situation and detect emergencies and priorities
  • Gather the knowledge and files of people about to leave as quickly as possible.
  • Participate in the Codir and involve management
  • Organize the annual closing and the files
  • Assess the potential of the teams in place
  • Redesign the organization and processes (inventories, receivables and provisions, cash and investment monitoring)
  • Participate in the recruitment of the new finance team
  • Analyze the malfunctions of the information systems used by finance and develop an upgrade plan to make the results more reliable.

The results

In 6 months, this complicated and high-stakes mission was successfully completed on schedule.

  • Excellent working atmosphere (with company managers and work teams)
  • Participation of the transition manager in the Codir during the interim of the DAF
  • A mission that embraced all finance processes (cash flow, investments, accounting, management control) but also Purchasing and Supply, inventory management and finally the operation of IS and ERP.