Case studies

Will Marr has experience in many areas of business needs…..

 

Case study 1 – Automating the Month-end Reporting Process

The month-end reporting process can be long, convoluted and therefore potentially error-prone. It can take finance staff away from other valuable activities. And the process is repeated every month.

Therefore, it makes sense to try and automate this process as far as possible. This will give the following positive outcomes:-

  • Quicker reporting
  • Better accuracy
  • Greater Financial Controller efficiency
  • Scale-ability

Will Marr has experience of automating month-end reporting processes from Sage, Pegasus and other accounting and ERP systems.

 

Case Study – Seacourt Ltd

Background: At Seacourt printers, the financial controller was only able to complete the month-end reporting process by around the 20th of the month due to the volume of month-end work. This meant that he was spending a lot of time on this work, he was then late in doing all his other duties, and the management reports were needed sooner. In addition, this cycle was demotivating the financial controller, and so Seacourt were concerned that he might leave. Finally, as a direct result of these delays, debtors were too high, tying up valuable cash, because invoice production and credit control were happening too late.

Scope of Work: Will Marr spent a day fact-finding and then put together a series of proposals which the client agreed to. Over the course of the next few months, he automated the reporting process by building reports in Excel which would extract the information required from standard Sage reports, and in the format wanted by the client. This included built-in checks and controls, conditional formatting, and a user guide to explain how to use the new reporting system. In addition, Will spent time each week with the financial controller, helping him with his work-load and providing guidance and support on improving month-end.

 Result: The end result was that the month-end process was a lot quicker, saving the financial controller 15% of his time through the month, every month, freeing up significant time for him to focus on other valuable activities. In addition, the new set-up was scalable, so that it would enable the company to grow without needing extra resources in the finance team.

 

Testimonial

“Seacourt was experiencing a rapid growth in sales, due to the great environmental focus we had developed. But our in-house accountant was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up; the month-end reports were late, and the finance function couldn’t cope with any further sales growth. In addition, it was taking too long to raise sales invoices, and debtors were increasing, tying up cash in the business.

Will came in like a breath of fresh air, and worked well with Bob, our in-house accountant, to stream-line the month-end process, and to free up Bob’s time to chase invoices. The finance function now works well for the business and is not holding back our growth, and Bob is much happier.”

 

Gareth Dinnage,

Seacourt MD

 

Case Study 2 – Transforming Finance Case Study

When the finance function is not working properly, the results can be catastrophic. Not only are costs wasted in an inefficient department, but a lack of control and information could mean:-

  • the inability to steer the company because you don’t know what course you are on,
  • the wrong strategies or revenue streams being pursued,
  • cashflow problems due to customer debts not being collected,
  • incorrect payments being made to suppliers,
  • and ultimately, you may unknowingly be trading illegally.

Whichever way you look at it, an ineffective finance function will cost money – it’s just a question of how much. Will Marr has experience of transforming finance departments which are not operating correctly. He has knowledge and training to know what should be done, and experience to know the most efficient ways of doing it. Sometimes just some guidance, direction and mentoring is all that is needed.

 

Case Study

Background: Windles Group were a growing and successful family-owned printer, trading at around £3m turnover. They employed a book-keeper and accounts assistant, but the management accounts were late, often inaccurate and were not trusted. The finance department had little credibility with the management team or the rest of the business. Problems were looming with the auditors.

Scope: Will Marr was employed to resolve this situation. He found significant weaknesses in the operating procedures, and the reporting framework was manual and prone to error. In addition, the work that was being completed was being done inefficiently and so other work was late in the department.

Results: The end results were that the finance department was transformed:-

  • Every balance was reconciled or corrected, giving integrity back to the whole finance system.
  • The new management information was accurate, meaningful and timely.
  • Processes and controls were put in place, for the department and the business generally.
  • Will became a trusted adviser to the MD, and was involved in key decisions with the business.
  • Existing finance staff became more engaged and happier.

 

Testimonial

“It had become apparent that our book-keeper was not up to the job. Accounts were late, poorly-presented and there were unanswered questions surrounding them. Will came on board and went through the whole system. He corrected the accounts, agreed numbers with the auditors, and put in place the controls, procedures and reporting system that we needed. Job well done.”

 

Bruce Podmore

Windles Group MD

 

 

Case Study 3 – Process Improvements

As companies grow and develop, processes which were once fit-for-purpose can become inefficient: slow, labour-intensive and error-prone.

Will Marr has experience of improving finance processes, and in particular how technology can be used to help achieve this. The aim is to produce accurate outputs, quicker and with less human intervention.

 

Case Study – Seacourt Ltd

Background: At Seacourt printers, the sales process was long and labour-intensive. Jobs bags had to be physically moved around the building, multiple people were involved and the incumbent ERP system was not being used to its fullest extent. Invoices were taking too long to be raised, statements were never sent out, and there was not enough time to chase overdue invoices.

Scope of Work: Will Marr spotted that some significant improvements could be made. He liaised with the suppliers of the ERP system, the in-house accountant and other members of staff. He scoped out a new process, and then worked with the in-house accountant to ensure that the process was properly implemented and embedded in the business. Throughout this implementation, Will ensured all issues and problems were identified and eliminated.

Result: The end result was that the sales process was quicker, more efficient and scalable:-

  • Invoices raised within 72 hours of delivery, compared to 15 days previously,
  • The sales month-end completed after 3 days, compared to 10 days,
  • Statements sent out to all customers every month, which did not happen previously,
  • Debtor days dropped from 68 to 53, resulting in an extra £175k of cash received.

 

Testimonial

“On the back of some rapid sales expansion, we knew that our sales process was not working as well it could, and would not allow the business to scale as it needed. Invoices were not being raised quickly enough and debtors were rising significantly. Sales managers were getting frustrated.

Will came in and saw that improvements could be made. He put in place a stream-lined process, and “sweated” the technology that we already had in place but were not fully utilising. This resulted in a substantial reduction in debtor days, freeing up significant cash and savings on borrowing costs, and enabled us to continue to scale the business upwards.”

 

Gareth Dinnage, Seacourt Ltd MD

 

Case Study 4 – Developing Finance Managers / Financial Controllers

Finance managers need a broad range of skills – in particular, being proficient with technical financial issues, using systems efficiently, having commercial awareness, as well as people and communications skills.

Where there is a need to develop finance staff into becoming fully rounded finance managers, Will Marr can help.

I am able to:

  • Use bespoke software to identify key areas of strength and weakness
  • Use my knowledge, experience and training to help improve areas of weakness
  • Mentor and support finance staff to become valuable finance managers and leaders
  • Identify training needs and options.

 

Case Study – Windles Group

Background: Windles Group was a successful and rapidly expanding manufacturing business. Will Marr was the finance director who was becoming stretched as the business grew. There was a small finance team, amongst whom was a part-qualified assistant showing some great promise.

Scope: Will Marr spotted the potential in this individual, and mentored them to take on more responsibility, going through the theory and the practice of what was needed. In addition, some investment in further training for the individual was put in place.

Result: This input enabled the individual to grow into a very successful finance manager, who would grow and develop further as the business expanded; it enabled Will Marr to stand back from a lot of the day-to-day finance needs and focus on higher-value areas; and it resulted in the business acquiring a first rate finance manager, with detailed knowledge of the business, without the expense and risk of recruiting one.

 

Testimonial

“The business was expanding rapidly and the finance team needed further investment to cope and develop further. Will had previously recruited an assistance accountant and had spotted the talent in her. With his direction and mentoring, Will developed Claire into a first-class finance manager who was skilled in system work, understood the numbers and was also aware of the commercial angle. She was encouraged to get involved in all areas of the business, and developed into a very valuable member of the business.”

 

Bruce Podmore, MD of Windles Group