The situation
A growing travel group operating through three companies in three countries and currencies, reported as though they were one business. The founder knew the numbers were wrong.
The group also had to be valued by year end so the founder could raise against it, so everything we did was planned backwards from that date.
What we found
- Most of the accounts labelled as banks weren't banks.
- Owner money, lender money and related-party money were all sitting together in one account.
- Exchange losses were showing up as profit.
- Owner drawings with no approval behind them.
- The last audited year had never been posted back into the books.
What we did
A forensic review anchored on the audited year, with every line tied. The rule was that balances come only from the trial balance and aged reports, never rebuilt from a transaction export.
Each company's books were restated to today and revenue was restated under IFRS 15. Intercompany balances were tied across currencies, and controls were put on owner drawings and payments.
The first consolidated group pack the founder had ever received, plus a finance operating manual and the accounting design for the travel platform they are building.
Consolidating three currencies meant choosing an exchange rate for one of them, and we didn't assume it. We proved the rate by working back from the point where the intercompany balances between the companies tied, and said so in the pack.
Once the group was on one page, the real issue was obvious: it was a pricing problem, not a volume problem, and no amount of extra selling would close the gap.
Before and after
| Before | Now |
|---|---|
| Three companies reported as one | Each company, and the group, consolidated |
| Exchange losses showing as profit | Currencies tied and reported correctly |
| Cash judged by the bank balance | A 13-week cash view |
| Drawings with no approval | Owner drawings and payments approved |
| The audited year never posted back | Books restated to today |
What runs every month
A consolidated group pack, with the group, each company and the cash flow live on FinPulse.
