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When a private equity firm acquired a specialty chemical manufacturing business, the newly independent company faced the daunting challenge of separating from its parent company’s infrastructure within a few months. The carve-out included a manufacturing plant, customer contracts and business operations, but lacked a standalone finance organization and accounting function.
The company’s only finance resource at the outset was a veteran executive who had spent decades with the former parent company. With no internal finance team and no established systems to process transactions, manage cash flow or generate financial reports, the company needed urgent support to build out its financial operations from the ground up. At the same time, the company was implementing SAP S/4HANA, a cloud-based ERP system, a complex process that required expert navigation.
We were engaged to provide interim finance leadership and hands-on accounting support. Our core accounting team, led by an experienced interim controller, was responsible for ensuring the company’s finance function was operational by the go-live date. Working collaboratively, we developed and executed a project plan to establish fundamental accounting processes, including cash management, procurement-to-pay and order-to-cash workflows.
Additionally, we played a pivotal role in the ERP implementation. Though the company had engaged an external system integrator, gaps in expertise and execution threatened to delay the transition. Our team stepped in to perform testing, troubleshoot issues and serve as an advocate for the client’s needs from a finance perspective. By working closely with both the client and the implementation partner, we ensured that key financial workflows were correctly configured within SAP S/4HANA.
Working with an aggressive timeline, we successfully established a fully functioning finance organization and helped the company transition to its new ERP system. Our contributions ensured:
By the end of the engagement, the company was positioned to operate independently with the financial infrastructure necessary for long-term success. Moreover, with the ERP implementation, the foundation was in place for business growth and continued system refinement.