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A Hands-On Approach
Our relationship-oriented approach results in successful partnerships
The Pentad Group partners with our clients on all levels. We can either help maintain a stable environment or assist in implementing change. When you work with The Pentad Group you get the whole company, not just one individual. Our team is comprised of hands-on consultants, with an average of 15 years of experience. We solve problems, deliver results and manage all types of financial initiatives. Here are just a few examples of ways in which we have helped our clients:
Project: CFO Interim Support
Client: Software & Services
Company Size: $10 Million
Summary: The Pentad Group was engaged to support a venture-backed start-up during its fiscal year-end, manage the accounting department, prepare for the upcoming audit and assist in hiring
a new CFO.
Key Accomplishments:
- Closed books for each month while engaged and prepared financial packages for investors and Board of Directors
- Introduced and obtained line of credit from leasing company
- Completed budget for upcoming fiscal year
- Wrote job description, interviewed and recommended new CFO
- Made recommendations to organize and streamline monthly closing process:
- Automated invoicing from labor intensive spreadsheet
- Integrated segregated accounts receivable process with accounting software
- Standardized contract reviews and communication company-wide
- Reconciled all accounts and reduced work by external audit firm
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Project:
Financial and Operational Audit
Client:
Software for Financial Services Industry
Company Size:
$690 Million
Summary:
The
Pentad Group was engaged to conduct
an operational
and financial review to assess the effectiveness and
efficiencies of processes related to provisioning,
billing, and customer credits at one of the business
units. The
objectives were to gain an understanding of the
procedures and the internal controls governing the
provisioning and billing functions from both a financial
and operational perspective and to identify
opportunities to improve the process and practices and
share related recommendations.
Summary
of key accomplishments:
-
Interviewed key management personnel regarding the
Provisioning and Billing processes
-
Reviewed existing documentation of relevant policies
and procedures.
-
Obtained
an understanding of the procedures and related
internal controls
-
Tested a representative sample of provisioning and
billing activity processed through the relevant
systems utilized
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Reviewed open customer trials
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Reviewed billing adjustments and other credits
issued
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Determined adequacy of the customer change support
and subsequent review performed by the Finance
Department
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Summarized observations and management action plans
Project:
Due
Diligence & Valuation
Client:
Chemical Manufacturing & Distribution
Company
Size:
$12
Million
Summary:
The
Pentad Group was brought on board to assist a private
equity firm with the due diligence of a chemical
manufacturer and distributor in preparation of
finalizing an offer to buy this 100-year old family
business.
The only instructions given to the Pentad consultant
were to review the financial statements for the last
year-end, as the offer was going to be predicated on the
EBITDA of the last twelve months.
Key
Accomplishments:
·
Determined missing GAAP adjustments from the
broker-provided financial statements
·
Verified
and vouched 80% of the assets
·
Reviewed
all account reconciliations
·
Reviewed
the internal technology and assessed the accounting
staff capabilities to determine areas for possible
improvement
·
Determined what business opportunities could be changed
to enhance both operating and financial processes
·
Identified trends in the customer base and margin over
the last three years that were having a significant
impact on the bottom line and, in turn, resulted in
changing the final offer
·
Prepared
pro forma financial statements used to determine future
bank covenants
Project:
Review of cost model
used as basis for glass pricing, as part of due
diligence in acquisition
Client:
Auto
glass manufacturer
Company
Size:
$400 million
Summary:
As part of the
acquisition negotiations of the company by a larger
entity, the two firms decided the acquisition price
would be based on a cost-plus-margin model, reflecting
all costs associated with the production of the glass
parts. The
deal negotiations also included a timetable of
operational improvements and capital investments
required by the current operations.
Pentad was engaged conduct a full review of the
cost model to (1) ensure that the model reflected all
costs incurred at each plant for each process; (2)
identify the gaps between actual operations and industry
standards and (3) develop a performance improvement plan
including capital investment required to achieve the
best-in-class status.
Key
Accomplishments:
-
Cost
model errors regarding actual plant operations were
identified and corrected
-
Important subsidies for negotiating the P&S Agreement
were developed
-
The
operational improvements and capital investment plan
were developed and made part of the deal negotiation
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Cost
accounting deficiencies in the Ford systems were
identified and reported to Cook Glass with
recommendations for improvements
Project Name:
Financial re-statement
assistance and on-going support
Client: Software
Company Size:
$100m +
Summary:
The
client was required by the SEC to restate five years of
financial reporting. In addition to this extra effort,
there was considerable turnover, the firm’s stock price
suffered and ultimately the firm became a takeover
target, and was ultimately acquired by a Dutch-based
firm.
Throughout this 18+ month engagement, The Pentad Group
provided skilled resources with appropriate experience
to greatly minimize any ramp-up time.
Projects
Pentad was engaged to perform:
-
Two
members on the SEC restatement team.
-
Interim
Corporate
Controller (assisted with integration of M1 to DS
systems.
Transition from public company to being a subsidiary
of a public company)
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Day-to-day Senior Financial Analyst
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Interim Revenue Controller
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Analytical
team to support the needs of outside due diligence
teams
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Sarbanes Oxley documentation revision and updating
to align with needs of the acquirer.
Key Accomplishments:
-
Successful meeting of SEC filing deadline which was
in jeopardy
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Successful analytics to acquirers due diligence
efforts, resulting in sale
-
Improved
control, reporting, and efficiency of revenue
recognition
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Monthly/Quarterly Close accelerated by 5 to 7 days
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Sarbanes – Oxley documentation approved and utilized
by the acquiring company
Project: AP
Process Review
Client:
Software
Company Size:
$250M
Summary:
assess the Accounts Payables function at the client. It
covered procedures, roles, responsibilities, controls,
and automated processes and also include the
Procure-to-Pay cycle with relevant impacts upon the
Accounts Payable function.
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Reviewed existing procedural documentation for
Accounts Payable
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Interviewed Accounting Manager and staff regarding
workflow, procedures and timing of activities
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Created and analyzed current work flow diagrams and
flowcharts
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Created Activities Matrix to review segregation of
duties and workloads
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Analyzed current workflow and resource utilization
across work activities
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Planned reassignment of tasks to appropriate job
roles with maximum possible segregation of duties
and appropriate use of staff skill sets
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Identified process improvements and recommended
actions
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Presented to appropriate client management.
Key Accomplishments:
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Benchmarking and introduction of metrics and goals
for staff
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Identification and improvement of controls
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Elimination of redundant tasks and excessive
controls
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Business case for improved integration of process
via workflow tools, thus eliminating manual
processes and improving automation level
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Improved segregation of duties
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Reduced headcount for AP group
Project: “Fresh-Start” Accounting and
Emergence from Bankruptcy
Client Industry: Manufacturing
Company Size:
$1 billion
Summary: The Pentad Group was engaged to assist the
corporate accounting group with the international
consolidation and “fresh-start” accounting allocations
for this international manufacturing company coming out
of bankruptcy.
The Pentad Consultant worked directly with the
CFO, Director of Taxes, the valuation firm and the
external auditors.
Due to the high turnover of the corporate staff
other reporting and reorganization issues were assumed
by the Consultant.
The project, originally slated for a few weeks,
was extended due to the relocation of the corporate
office from MA to NY.
Pentad also was involved in interviewing job
applicants and assisting with the initiation of a
consolidating tool, i.e., Hyperion, vs. the Excel
spreadsheet used for the consolidating process.
The company had operations in
Massachusetts, New Jersey, United Kingdom,
Mexico, Latin America, Germany, Italy,
France and Ireland.
Key Accomplishments:
-
Maintained the international consolidating spreadsheet
that required use of “fresh-start” accounting,
valuation allocations and equity adjustments, along
with assuming responsibility for the monthly close.
-
Assisted with the preparation of financial statements
for three periods, i.e., two fiscal year-ends and a
stub-period, along with footnotes related to the
valuations and emergence from bankruptcy.
-
Responsible for auditor sign-off of “fresh-start”
accounting by legal entity worldwide.
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Instrumental in hiring new employee for transition to
Hyperion.
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Transitioned consolidation process and company closing
responsibility, along with audit trail, to newly
hired employees.
Project: Sarbanes-Oxley Policies and Procedures
Client: Global provider of financial information to institutions, traders and investors
Company Size: $485 Million
Summary: The Pentad Group was engaged to coordinate and develop policies and procedures to assist in the compliance effort with Sarbanes-Oxley
(SOX)
for the year 2005. This project focused on documentation effectiveness, which is key to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance. It also enables the company to gain significant operational effectiveness.
Key Accomplishments:
- Reviewed accounting current practices and develop scope of financial policies/procedures
- Developed strategy and framework for writing policies on the following business processes: general accounting; inter-company financial reporting; internal control; cash and treasury; credit management; travel and entertainment; disbursements; revenue recognition; and other income/expense/assets
- Maintained and updated existing financial policies and procedures incorporating new accounting guidance
- Worked with domestic and international business units to organize, prepare and issue financial policies and procedures
- Coordinated management's review and approval of policies and procedures
- Linked policies and procedures to company's internal intranet SOX repository, known as "Policy IQ," to evidence efficient governance over internal controls
- Published and distributed policies and procedures manual electronically
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Project:
Accounting / Business System Selection
Client:
Telecommunications
Company
Size:
$15
Million
Summary:
The Pentad Group was engaged to identify the
most appropriate accounting / business software package
for a rapidly growing start-up company.
Some of the key requirements included:
-
The
ability to provide immediate financial & business
tools to manage the business
-
Successfully integrate the chosen package with the
client’s sophisticated “homegrown” system; and will
grow with the client’s rapidly expanding business.
-
Ability to implement within a very tight time frame
Key
Accomplishments:
-
Documented
and gained an understanding of client’s current and
future accounting and business needs as well as its
unique “homegrown” system.
-
Identified all accounting applications
-
Conducted research on accounting and ERP
applications to meet the requirements of the client
and provide future extended business capabilities
-
Created and distributed an RFI and evaluated the
response from vendors of the top two applications
identified as most suitable ,
-
Engaged vendors for discussions and vendor
demonstrations of applications
-
Analyzed
the considered applications for the ability to
integrate these applications with the client’s
“homegrown” system
-
Developed a comprehensive cost analysis of
considered applications including implementation,
training, and annual costs.
-
Presented a complete and objective analysis for each
application to the clients
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Project:
Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Years One & Two
Client: A leading global provider of financial and business information to institutional and individual investors
Company Size: $485 Million
Summary: The Pentad Group was engaged in project management and execution of the company's Year One Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiative. The project was under the direction of the Director of Internal Audit and had been ongoing for five months when The Pentad Group was engaged to become the Project Manager. Our team was engaged to continue in Year Two of the ongoing SOX compliance effort.
Key Accomplishments - Year Two:
- Worked with management and internal staff to respond to the internal control deficiencies identified by the external auditors in Year One
- Revised existing financial process cycle documentation at all locations to update for operational changes made, new cycles or locations
- Created documentation for newly acquired business which was integrated into an existing location
- Worked with the IT SOX Manager to update IT SOX documentation, key controls and testing strategy
- Executed the IT testing plan at all locations
- Reviewed and summarized the IT internal testing results with IT management
- Worked to determine retest plan for operational failures or remediation plan in the case of design failures
- Performed walk-through of all financial process cycles
- Developed, executed, reviewed and summarized testing plans for all locations for assessment and presentation to external audit firm
- Prepared project summary and presentations for various level of internal management, the senior management team and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors
- Served as liaison with external audit firm
- Our consultants continue to work with senior financial management on strategy related to SOX compliance
- Working with internal process owners to train them on the impact of internal controls on their operational activities
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Project: Interim Controller / Accounting Department
Re-Engineering
Client: Non-profit association
Company Size: $1 Million Operating Budget
Summary: The Pentad Group was engaged to assess the current state of the accounting and finance department, with regards to internal financial reporting and the accuracy of transaction processing. Our assessment was that reporting could be streamlined, and that discrepancies in both the financial records and transaction processing needed to be corrected. This resulted in our engagement in both project management and executing a clean-up initiative. All accounts and transaction processing for the previous quarter were reviewed with discrepancies noted and corrected. Procedures for reporting month-end financial results were revised to provide more accurate and timely reporting. The project was under the direction of the Executive Director, with input on financial reporting from members of the Board of Advisors.
Key Accomplishments:
- Assessed accounting functions and documented procedures
- Revised procedures with improved internal controls
- Prepared month-end financial reporting
- Cleaned-up financial records for the fiscal year
- Assumed and execute responsibility, on an ongoing basis, for all accounting functions: cash disbursements; cash receipt booking; invoicing for dues/memberships, etc.
- Modified and developed monthly internal financial reports and other internal management reporting systems
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