When the lender to a mid-sized family owned business became suspicious of financial reporting improprieties, they gave us a call.  We discovered that the company's CFO, entrusted with financial reporting, inventory management and lender relations, had made egregious mistakes. Read on to learn how our investigation evolved into a successful upgrade of the company's financial systems.

During our week-long investigation of the situation, we discovered that inventory values were overstated by about $2 million and unrecorded expenses would impact current profitability.  The company replaced its CFO, and the new financial officer corroborated our conclusions.  

Shortly thereafter, the company's new CFO abruptly resigned and the company called us for advice.  We were quickly engaged to close out the company's current period financials, prepare the books and records for its year-end audit, and serve as interim CFO.  

Once in the CFO's chair, we carefully assessed the situation and performed triage to foster the desired outcomes for the company's owners and lender.  We determined the company's "true" financial condition, and provided management with the information and tools it needed to make decisions, including:

• 13-week cash flow forecast
• Rolling and fiscal year projection
• Key performance indicators
• Dashboard metrics
• Internal controls and reporting procedures
• Real time reporting packages

Results:  Throughout, we Carefully Fostered [desired] Outcomes with the company's lender by proactively providing assurance that the company's collateral was properly reported and had not dissipated.  As a result, the company's credibility with the lender was repaired. 

If you know of a company that may be a victim of accounting improprieties, please give us a call at 310.789.1777 to discuss how we might help the business and its lenders.