There had been a change in commercial management at a payroll service provider. In addition, the ERP system could only be used in a rudimentary way following a system change. The lack of a reliable basis of figures had considerably reduced the management's confidence in the commercial department.
The company consists of two legally independent locations with around 250 employees. It operates as a payroll service provider in agriculture, forestry and related business areas.
Reliable monthly financial statements and appropriate management meetings
The interim manager's first task was to analyze the completeness and accuracy of the accounting figures and to provide meaningful monthly financial statements. By adapting some of the processes and configurations of the enterprise resource planning system Navision, he enabled the company to produce reliable monthly financial statements. This enabled the commercial department to regain the trust of the management. This process was supported by the introduction of a binding schedule for all tasks relating to the month-end closing and the associated meetings between management and group leaders.
The interim manager and his partner took over the management of the monthly results meetings at management level. The purpose was to demand and establish the responsibility of the participants for their own area in this group as well. The procedure also served to define and practice reporting standards at this level.
Cost and performance accounting creates clarity about profit potential
The company is organized according to business areas. At the beginning of the interim mandate, it was not clear: "Where do we earn money?". To create this clarity, the interim manager designed and implemented a cost and performance accounting system in the ERP system that maps the business areas. The basic concept includes modern, step-by-step fixed cost recovery accounting with cost center and cost unit accounting. As machines and employees often worked for more than just one business area, the model also included internal activity allocation at standard cost rates. The allocation of resources to business units and cost centres reflected the organizational responsibility.
Additional complexity arose due to two legally independent locations, which nevertheless jointly planned orders and resources, and the connection of data-supplying upstream systems that did not clearly know the legal and organizational separation of the locations. The interim manager was also able to successfully map this challenge in the systems.
Generation change: coaching for company succession
In addition to the main tasks, the interim manager, who is also a certified business coach, was able to successfully coach the company succession between the senior owner and his children.
