The interim manager was hired after the Head of Finance & Accounting for the D-A-CH region of a listed US company left the company. The vacancy was subsequently no longer filled by a permanent employee, as the task and function were to be outsourced to a shared service center in Eastern Europe in the medium term.
Daily finance operations and preparation of financial reports
The interim manager was initially to take on day-to-day finance tasks such as:
- Contact person in the company for all financial issues
- Collaboration with tax advisors and auditors
- Contact person for tax and accounting issues
- Processing of tax audits
- Preparation of the US GAAP monthly report to the USParent company
- Weekly/monthly reporting of key financial figures to the US parent company
- Preparation of HGB financial statements
- Sparring partner to the management for all financial issues
Common understanding developed with US colleagues
The Group's subsidiaries in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were closely involved in the Austria and Switzerland were closely involved in the reporting of the US parent company. It was therefore of the utmost urgency to establish a common understanding of internal processes and structures with the US colleagues as quickly as possible and to closely coordinate the takeover of day-to-day business.
Transferring the work to the Shared Service Center
Another task was to train the employees of the Shared Service Center in Eastern Europe and hand over the day-to-day business to the teams there.
In order to ensure a smooth handover of functions to the Shared Service Center, it was necessary to draw up schedules with all those involved and ensure that they were completed on time. It was also necessary to create reporting structures and train the employees of the Shared Service Center internally.
Successful collaboration characterized by appreciation
At the end of the interim mandate, all tasks were successfully handed over to the Shared Service Center as planned. The successful collaboration, which lasted almost 2 years, was characterized by appreciation from both German and American management.
