CASE STUDY
Scaling Finance & Accounting Support Through Post-Acquisition Growth
CHALLENGE
A government technology and services platform providing integrated administrative, revenue enhancement, and payment software solutions to state and local governments faced increasing Finance & Accounting complexity following a significant acquisition that nearly doubled the size of the business. At the same time, a newly implemented return-to-office policy drove employee turnover, leaving several critical positions open and creating significant backlogs across accounting, FP&A, procurement, contracts, and revenue operations. Balance sheet accounts had gone unreconciled for approximately a year, collections activity had stalled, hundreds of contracts required review and system updates, and the organization was approaching its annual budgeting cycle without sufficient FP&A capacity. With additional acquisitions under consideration, leadership needed experienced resources who could quickly stabilize core financial processes, address critical backlogs, and support continued growth.
OUR ROLE
ETONIEN initially deployed a single experienced Finance & Accounting resource to address the organization’s most immediate priorities. The resource quickly made a meaningful impact, demonstrating the value of ETONIEN’s model and creating confidence to expand the engagement. As additional needs emerged across accounting, FP&A, procurement, accounts receivable, contracts, and revenue recognition, ETONIEN seamlessly added specialized resources to address each priority. The team scaled significantly during periods of peak demand and then flexed back as critical backlogs were resolved and the organization’s internal capabilities strengthened. Throughout the engagement, resources worked cross-functionally with Finance, Sales, Operations, and IT to reconcile financial accounts, accelerate collections, optimize procurement processes, support budgeting and FP&A initiatives, and bring greater structure to contract administration and revenue recognition.
SOLUTIONS
- Balance Sheet Cleanup:Â Reconciled long-outstanding balance sheet accounts and established greater accuracy and visibility across the company’s financial records.
- Accounts Receivable & Collections:Â Mobilized resources to address the significant collections backlog, review outstanding customer balances, and improve the overall receivables process.
- Procure-to-Pay Optimization:Â Evaluated the company’s procurement and purchase order processes, identified inefficient practices, and implemented opportunities to simplify workflows and reduce administrative burden.
- FP&A Support:Â Provided additional analytical capacity to support budgeting, business performance analysis, forecasting, and evaluation of project profitability.
- Contract Backlog Management:Â Worked through hundreds of outstanding contracts, determining required actions across the CRM, billing, and financial systems while helping clear the existing backlog.
- Revenue Recognition & Billing:Â Reviewed contracts to assess revenue recognition and billing requirements, established appropriate billing schedules, and ensured contracts were properly reflected in the financial systems.
- Systems & Process Integration:Â Supported alignment between CRM, accounting, procurement, and billing systems to improve data accuracy and create more efficient workflows.
- Post-Acquisition Integration:Â Provided flexible Finance & Accounting capacity to absorb the increased workload created by the acquisition while supporting the organization’s preparation for additional M&A activity.
OUTCOME
ETONIEN provided the flexibility to scale support alongside the organization’s rapidly changing needs. What began as a single-resource engagement expanded as the initial resource quickly delivered results and uncovered additional opportunities for improvement, ultimately growing to a broader team during periods of peak demand before scaling back as priorities were addressed. This flexible model allowed the organization to access significant Finance & Accounting capacity when it needed it most, while reducing support as workloads normalized and internal capabilities improved. The engagement helped clear critical financial and operational backlogs, strengthen accounting and FP&A processes, improve contract and billing workflows, and support post-acquisition integration (all while avoiding the cost and long-term commitment associated with building a large permanent team). ETONIEN’s ability to rapidly deploy, scale, and redeploy specialized resources gave leadership an adaptable extension of its Finance & Accounting organization throughout a period of significant growth and change.