consero_inhouse_vs_outsource_infographic

Creating Value Out of the Finance & Accounting Function: 5 Common Mistakes PE-Backed Companies Make…And How to Fix Them

Private Equity firms need the Finance & Accounting team to deliver clear insights quickly. But too often, they are re-creating the wheel—implementing software, hiring professionals and building reports. Time is wasted and opportunities are missed.

To be successful, the finance & accounting function of Private Equity portfolio companies should create value. A strategic CFO should provide the “Voice of Finance” that permeates throughout the business. Key functions like processing transactions, closing the books and producing internal/external reporting should all be efficient. And those efficiencies should drive the relative cost of the finance & accounting function down as the organization scales up.

In this eBook, we’ll explain the common mistakes to help you identify potential failure points. We’ll provide insights into how they can be resolved so you can begin getting more value out of the finance function. And we’ll show you how the finance function can provide the foundation to build for the future and guide the business strategically.

 Five Common Mistakes:

  • Misaligned skill sets in finance & accounting
  • Re-creating the finance & accounting wheel
  • Disconnected finance & accounting systems
  • Processes that won’t scale
  • Buried information

 The Fix:Driving efficiencies through automation and AI with Finance as a Service

Corporate franchise gets greater scalability and lower costs from outsourcing vs. in-house solution

Sunstone Yoga was faced with rapidly growing requirements for F&A services, both at the corporate level and for a diverse group of franchisee owners. While evaluating various service providers, Sunstone Yoga executives soon realized they wanted a service solution based on a team of F&A professionals dedicated to their specific business. Sunstone Yoga viewed this dedicated resource model as a strong predictor for higher service levels and greater satisfaction among its franchise owners.

Based on these factors and others, Sunstone Yoga selected Consero as its outsourced F&A service provider.

Consero provides Sunstone Yoga with greater flexibility in financial and administrative management

The business situation

Recently, Sunstone Yoga was faced with rapidly growing requirements for financial and administrative (F&A) services, both at the corporate level and for a diverse group of franchisee owners. The company understood the benefits of outsourcing F&A services, so it began a search for an experienced service provider solution that met the following criteria:

  • Frees owners to focus on more strategic business activities
  • Delivers greater scaleability and lower costs than an in-house solution
  • Provides efficiencies and consistency across all corporate and studio entities

While evaluating various service providers, Sunstone Yoga executives soon realized that they also wanted a service solution based on a team of F&A professionals dedicated to their specific business. Sunstone Yoga viewed this dedicated resource model as a strong predictor for higher service levels and greater satisfaction among its franchisee owners.

Based on these factors and others, Sunstone Yoga selected Consero Global Solutions as its outsourced F&A service provider.

About Sunstone Yoga

Sunstone Yoga is a privately-held retail yoga company that has both corporate- and franchisee-owned studios. Executing against its plan of establishing yoga studios across the United States and creating a national brand, Sunstone Yoga has grown rapidly over the last few years, with 16 studios currently in operation. Along with providing yoga classes and teacher certification, Sunstone Yoga sells a wide array of merchandise including clothing, books, food, beverages and other items.

A full team dedicated to the success of Sunstone Yoga Consero provides Sunstone Yoga with a full team of seasoned experts in F&A, to handle all of the activities required by their finance function at both the corporate and franchise level.

Along with the dedicated service team, a Consero Engagement Manager is responsible for managing the Consero team, providing first-tier account support, conducting periodic account reviews, and driving client success. Every member of the dedicated Consero staff reports directly to the Engagement Manager, helping to ensure that issues are addressed promptly and that all goals are met according to plan.

Working closely with Sunstone Yoga executives, the dedicated Consero team has created consistent, scalable processes to support functional F&A areas for all corporate and franchisee locations. These functional areas include:

  • Revenue accounting
  • Accounts payable and receivable processing
  • Travel & expense processing
  • Bank and credit card reconciliations
  • Payroll administration and payroll accounting
  • Sales tax calculation and filing
  • Weekly, monthly, and consolidated financial reporting
  • Budget, forecast, and variance reporting
  • Audit support

In addition to supporting these key functional areas, Consero also utilizes its best practice expertise to drive further process and productivity improvements. Because Consero works with both corporate and franchisees, efficiencies gained in one part of the business are quickly leveraged across the entire enterprise.

Results: significant cost savings and benefits across the board

With Consero, Sunstone Yoga was able to outsource all of its corporate and franchisee accounting as well as to establish a comprehensive set of financial analytics and dashboards—ultimately saving the company over $500,000 in F&A costs each year.

For both Sunstone Yoga and its growing family of franchisees, benefits include:

  • An improved franchisee model: Providing Sunstone Yoga with a unique, standardized service offering to attract new studio franchisees and support growth
  • Greater strategic focus: Allowing studio franchisees to focus on building their business instead of spending up to 25% of their time on non-revenue generating F&A tasks
  • Enhanced scaleability: Supporting rapid scaling of Sunstone Yoga through a standardized set of F&A practices
  • Better business decision making: Giving corporate management consistent data and analysis across all studios to support informed decision making

With Consero, Sunstone Yoga now enjoys a strategic F&A solution, helping to support and grow their enterprise both now and in the years ahead.

Challenge

  • F&A support required for a growing number of franchisees
  • Owners needing to focus on growth rather than financial administration
  • Growing operational and process demands
  • Limited visibility into finances at the corporate level Consero Solution
  • Customized processes and financial controls
  • Scaleable financial technology platform
  • Client-defined periodic reporting at corporate and franchise level
  • Dedicated, fully managed F&A service team
  • On demand, variable cost solution

Benefits

  • A unique and attractive service offering for franchisees
  • Up to $500,000 in reductions for F&A
  • The ability for owners to focus more on strategic business decisions
  • Salability supported by a standardized set of finance and accounting practices
  • Best practices provided by Consero finance professionals
  • Greater efficiencies and consistencies across all corporate and franchise entities

“Consero was able to provide us with a corporate F&A solution superior to other vendors while offering an equally effective solution to our franchise studio owners. Our franchisees can now focus on growing their businesses and not worry about necessary, but non-strategic back office functions.”
– Brandon Hartsell (CEO, Sunstone Yoga)

For more information

For more information about Consero Global Solutions, contact us at US (800) 913-8702 or by email at info@conseroglobal.com.

ABOUT CONSERO

Consero was founded in early 2006 with the goal of providing superior finance and administration (F&A) solutions to small and growing companies at a reduced cost. Since then, Consero has grown to be recognized as the #1 provider in the industry by independent publications like the Black Book of Outsourcing. Consero’s unique Empower Financial Platform helps growing companies to address complex finance requirements, scale finance operations quickly and cost-effectively, and deliver best practices to support strategic decision making by C-level executives.

Collective Group

Many smart executives have great intuition, but lack the financial information to confidently make decisions. It becomes harder to run a business on instinct when you are growing in revenue and managing glitches and turnover. This CEO explains how he handled the most common challenges.