Back to Profitability as a preparation for carve-out & disposal

BUSINESS TURNAROUND

  • BACK TO PROFITABILITY
  • CONTROL REGAIN

ORGANISATION

Global DMC PLC (Destination Management Company)
– 4th Tour Operator in Europe

SCOPE

  • Bring Region back to profitability
  • Regaining control over the company operations
  • Ensure clean Audit Opinion

POSITION/ TEAM

Regional CFO – managing 20FTEs

GEOGRAPHY

Middle East

  • UAE
  • Oman

CHALLENGES

  1. Financial & Accounting Function
    • 5-month delay in purchase invoice booking
    • Ineffective accounting department
    • Errors in profitability calculation
    • No proper reporting or controlling processes
    • Qualified audit report in prior years
  2. Planning, Budgeting & Cost Control
    • Delays in budgeting and forecasting
    • Lack of purchase price control
  3. Process & Standardization
    • Non-standardized procedures /processes
    • Operational inefficiencies
  4. Leadership & HR
    • Lack of qualified finance resources
    • Employee morale issues → high staff turnover
    • Leadership and cultural misalignment
  5. Structural & Market Constraints
    • Time constraints for turnaround
    • Market challenges affecting performance

ACTIONS

  • Data, System & Workflow Diagnostics
    • Reviewed system usage logs and identified bottlenecks in data entry and approvals
    • Mapped existing data workflows from source to reporting for AP, sales, and GL
    • Identified obsolete master data and duplicated records
    • Assessed ERP data quality using simple KPIs (error rate, record age, latency)
    • Evaluated gaps in user adoption and training across finance and operations
  • Performance & Reporting Assessment
    • Assessed existing reporting packs: completeness, accuracy, consistenc
    • Reviewed forecast/budget cycles: frequency, ownership, and integration
    • Evaluated controlling maturity: variance analysis, cost drivers, planning logic
    • Reviewed profitability models for structural flaws and cost misallocations

DELIVERABLES

Financial & Accounting Deliverables

  • Cleared AP backlog &current invoice booking process aligned to <30 days
  • Monthly closing calendar and checklists across all entities
  • Fully reconciled balance sheets with documentation package
  • Corrected prior-year accounting errors and finalized audit sign-off
  • Policy manual for accounting procedures (AP, AR, GL, accruals, cut-off)

DATA Process & Workflow Optimization

  • End-to-end review and redesign of data entry and approval workflows
  • Updated SOPs for system use (sales order creation,profitabilitycontrol,etc)
  • Clean-up of obsolete or duplicated records in key modules
  • Revised master data governance rules (naming conventions, hierarchy, categorization
  • System health KPIs (response time, error rate, transaction time benchmarks

Operational & Process Optimization Deliverables

  • End-to-end process maps (P2P, O2C, R2R) with standardized SOPs
  • Initial automation tools (e.g., Power BI dashboards, Excel macros, RPA pilots)
  • Quick-win list of process inefficiencies removed or restructured
  • Steering committee structure with weekly cadence and action log
  • KPI with linkages to operational and financial outcomes

Reporting & Performance Management Deliverables

  • Group-wide budgeting and forecasting process (templates,calendar)
  • Standardized management reporting pack (P&L, B/S, cash flow, KPIs)
  • Monthly forecast with variance analysis and dashboard views
  • Rebuilt profitability model with accurate cost allocations
  • Controlling procedures implemented across countries

ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Operational savings ($2m)
    • high performing teams of data processing & accounting
    • establishing data driven decision making process
  • IT system gaps fixed
    • cleaned data in the booking management system (IT),
    • recovered lost GM of $1m (identified errors, that have not been recognised previously)
    • DATA governance process established
  • Resolved stalled (external)audit process; clean audit report issued
  • Finance department professionalized & ready:
    • for further fast business expansion
    • to be able to recognize issues
    • to react quickly and adequately for non-standard situations
  • Reduction of staff turnover by 20%
  • 5 months delay of invoice booking – reduced to 5days (standard time)

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