Management Reporting for an International Group Company

Client profile

Client

Latvian subsidiary of a listed EU corporation

Industry

Business support services

Employees in Latvia

More than 100

Services

Accounting, group reporting

The challenge

We were already handling the company's accounting and reporting when its ownership changed: it was sold to a large EU corporation. The group had its own, much more specific requirements, shorter deadlines and simply many more reports. The accounting itself is complex too, because revenue and costs, salaries in particular, have to be allocated to projects.

The group needed a bank balance report every day. Once a month it needed a cash flow forecast for the next six months, and at month end a separate forecast for the last ten days of the month. Supplier invoices had to go to the group controller as payment requests in the group's format.

Each month the group expected revenue, costs and profit by project in a matrix, both for the month and year to date, together with balance sheet accounts. On top of that came a general ledger in group accounts, a report of invoices issued and payments received, an aged receivables report, a quarterly depreciation report and other ad hoc reports on request.

Payroll is the hardest part. Reports are due to the group by the 2nd to 4th of the month, but payroll data only arrives by the 10th. The group is listed on a stock exchange, so nothing can be changed after the month is closed, even when the figures are based on a forecast.

Our approach

• Agreed the scope and deadlines of the reporting with the group on a video call.
• Studied the group's reporting formats.
• Wrote a checklist for each task, with a description and instructions.
• Built Power BI data transformations and reports.
• Included salaries in the reports on a forecast basis. Once payroll is calculated, the difference between forecast and actual is booked in the following month. For example, the July report goes out on 2 August, payroll is ready around 12 August, and the adjustment shows up in the August figures.
• Assigned the right specialist to each task, with the team working in parallel so that everything is done by the close on the 2nd to 4th of the month.

The outcome

• The company is still our client, and we continue to prepare its group reporting today.
• The group receives its daily, monthly and quarterly reports in its own formats and accounts.
• Monthly reporting is ready by the close on the 2nd to 4th of the month.

Services used

• Financial Reporting
• Accounting Services