Crestline Hotels & Resorts, a leading hospitality management company, faced ongoing challenges building and maintaining a robust Finance & Accounting (F&A) function, especially given the labor market’s tightening supply of experienced professionals.
Recognizing these hurdles, Crestline turned to Consero’s Flex Resources for a strategic staff augmentation solution.
Crestline’s partnership with Consero began as a pilot program to fill immediate staffing gaps. It quickly evolved into an integrated, highly collaborative arrangement that has delivered both significant cost savings and operational efficiency, freeing Crestline’s internal team to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives.
Consero Impact
Full staff integration & productivity
Outsourced staff delivering higher output vs. in-house
Reduced hiring time from 6+ months
Comprehensive process documentation
Company Background
Crestline Hotels & Resorts manages 134 hotels, resorts, conference and convention centers with more than 18,200 rooms in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Crestline is among the largest independent hotel management companies in the United States.
Challenge: Finance Hiring and Turnover Creating Operational Strain
Crestline was facing significant challenges with their finance and accounting staffing. As a management company whose fees represent revenue, maintaining cost-effective accounting operations was crucial to their business model.
Laura Mack, SVP of Finance and Accounting at Crestline, identified several critical challenges that were impacting their finance function:
Market Challenges in Accounting Talent
The accounting talent market had changed dramatically, with costs rising at rates outpacing other industries. Several factors contributed to this challenge:
- Supply Issues: Declining enrollment in accounting programs coupled with a large wave of accountants retiring from the workforce
- Cost Escalation: Candidates demanding $20,000-$40,000 above Crestline’s base pay
- Quality Constraints: Difficulty finding qualified candidates despite numerous applications
- Extended Hiring Timelines: Senior accountant positions taking up to six months to fill
Internal Operational Impact
These market conditions created a cascade of internal challenges:
- High Turnover: Staff accountants frequently leaving for higher-paying opportunities
- Management Burnout: Hiring managers exhausted by the constant revolving door of employees
- Training Inefficiency: Significant time invested in onboarding that was often lost to turnover
- Limited Bandwidth: Accounting staff unable to focus on higher-value activities
“That constant revolving door was just something that was burning them out,” explained Mack. “We had a lot of lead time on having to hire. Sometimes it would take six months just to hire a senior accountant, sometimes longer. And then you have the training and onboarding. It was a huge challenge.”
Solution: Consero’s Flex Resources Model
Crestline partnered with Consero to implement a Flex Resources model, what Chris Hartenstein, VP of Client Services at Consero, describes as “staff augmentation on steroids.”
What Makes Flex Resources Different
Unlike traditional staff augmentation that simply provides resources without support, Consero’s approach ensures quality, continuity, and seamless integration:
“We don’t just give you a resource and say ‘here you go, good luck’,” explains Hartenstein. “We bring in a documentation team to document all the processes, and we have internal management support for our resources.”
Implementation Process
Consero began with a phased implementation approach:
“That experience actually exceeded my expectations,” Mack noted. “The commitment was super low, just an hour in the morning. It was great.”
Strategic Approach to Team Integration
Crestline and Consero developed a thoughtful strategy to ensure successful integration of Consero resources with their existing team.
Clear Communication
To alleviate concerns about outsourcing, Crestline emphasized:
Consero staff would supplement, not replace, in-house talent
In-house staff would be freed to focus on higher-value activities
Consero employees would handle tasks that in-house staff “quite frankly don’t want to do”
To alleviate concerns about outsourcing, Crestline emphasized:
One-Team Culture
To build cohesion between in-house and Consero staff:
Inclusion of Consero employees in all team meetings
Treatment of Consero employees as remote team members
Regular communication through multiple channels
Celebration of early successes to build momentum
To build cohesion between in-house and Consero staff:
Task Allocation
Crestline and Consero developed a clear division of responsibilities:
In-house Staff
Owner-facing roles
Customer service
Financial analysis
Audit support
Consero Staff
Data entry
Reconciliations
Report preparation
Routine documentation
Crestline and Consero developed a clear division of responsibilities:
“With our department, we have customers that are external owners,” explained Mack. “A lot of the tasks that are owner-facing, where my team has to interact or help them work through their financials or audit processes – that is something that is important for us to provide that level of customer service.”
Results: Enhanced Efficiency and Strategic Focus
The implementation of Consero’s Flex Resources model delivered significant benefits to Crestline:
Operational Efficiencies
“The comments I got from my managers that were working directly – they’re like, wow, this team member is doing more than someone who’s been working with us for 6 months as far as their ability to pick up and move forward,” said Mack.
Resource Continuity
Mack emphasized the value of this benefit: “We had a replacement within two weeks, and they’re doing a six-week side-by-side training. I mean, I just do not get that going out to the open market and trying to get a senior accountant in.”
Strategic Business Impact
“We are able to streamline not only processes but our organizational chart and try to be more thoughtful about it,” explained Mack. “It is allowing us to grow without seeing that exponential cost just explode.”
Ongoing Support Structure
Consero’s comprehensive support structure continues to provide value:
“We have a VP we touch base with weekly. We get updated productivity making sure that we’re appropriately utilizing our resources on a regular basis,” noted Mack. “I feel like I have just as many – I have more people supporting than we have employees right now from Consero.”
Long-Term Partnership Success
What began as a limited engagement with two Consero team members has expanded significantly. The success of the initial implementation created enthusiasm across other departments at Crestline:
“Once we saw the success of the work that was alleviated for the team that got it, when we started adding, the other teams were actually excited. They’re like, ‘Oh, I get one too,'” Mack shared.
The partnership continues to deliver value through:
- Team Integration: Consero staff fully integrated as remote team members
- Reduced Turnover Stress: Management relieved of constant recruiting burden
- Enhanced Customer Service: More resources for owner-facing activities
- Cost-Effective Scaling: Growth without corresponding cost increases
About Consero
Consero’s Flex Resources provide enhanced staff augmentation that delivers significant advantages over traditional models:
- Rapid Deployment: Resources available within weeks, not months
- Comprehensive Documentation: Professional process documentation team
- Management Oversight: Dedicated supervision and leadership
- Seamless Integration: One-team approach to resource management
- Continuity Planning: Structured transitions when resources change
- Utilization Optimization: Regular reporting and resource management
For companies facing hiring challenges, turnover issues, or strategic repositioning of finance functions, Consero’s Flex Resources offer a proven solution that delivers immediate results while building long-term operational excellence.
Request a consultation for more information on how we can augment your staff.
