Exposition:
A nurse staffing firm was doubling in size annually for several years and then exploded to $70M+ annual revenue during COVID. The owner decided to leverage the opportunity and sold to a larger staffing firm. The excitement was quickly quelled when the CFO resigned immediately upon hearing the news.
Problem:
The CFO left the day after receiving notice of the sale and 3 days before the quarter end. The business fell victim to the unfortunate and common single point of failure risk ... the CFO owned all financial and accounting processes with a smattering of electronic but primarily paper documentation along with a newer Controller that was widely kept in the dark.
Solution:
The purchasing business was larger, but with a small finance shop meaning they could not throw bodies at the situation. An external resource was needed immediately to work with the business to make sense of the partial month, close the books, and investigate open issues.
Resolution:
Capitis Advisors spent a few days off-site learning the business, digging into the accounting system, and virtually meeting with employees. We then travelled to the client's location to prioritize objectives, work through the close, and identify holes within processes and documentation. The quarter-end month was soft closed within 10 days of starting the job, we identified a potential state tax issue, and starting building out processes for the accounting team. Capitis was extended for additional months to continue the close review, analyze the state tax issue, assist with the company transition, and other projects.