"Reese Partners helped Huhtamaki realize significant cost savings of over $2 million a year. The expertise provided by Reese Partners was superior to what we could have done internally, with respect to both quality and time. They brought an objective view that couldn't be replicated internally, worked within a tight timeline and presented what made the most sense given both current and future business trends."
"Reese Partners assessed our current state of effectiveness and efficiency at our Grant Park Engineering Center, benchmarked us to similar operations and recommended opportunities for improvement. They brought great industry knowledge that supported the benchmark, plus brought a fresh set of unbiased eyes to the assessment."
Business Case
A publicly traded sub-prime automobile finance company and a number of its former employees were under investigation for fraud by Security and Exchange Commission. The company terminated the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) after he had not produced external financial reports for more than two years.
Reese Partners Role
Reese Partners was retained to provide crisis management and to control the finance department, including centralizing accounting and financial reporting processes. At the time of the retention, the Chief Executive Officer was unclear of the company's true financial picture. The company eventually expanded Reese Partners role to include independent financial management.
Client Success
Reese Partners was instrumental in preserving cash reserves while helping to protect the company from a hostile takeover. Specific accomplishments include:
» Strategic financial assessment of existing operations, including an integrated, scaleable, three-year financial forecasting model to manage and transform the business; » Interim management of the tax department, including all reporting required for various federal and state audits; » Execution of a reduction-in-force initiative within the finance department, encompassing staff evaluations, work consolidation and terminations, while improving controls, documentation, and streamlining business processes; » Daily management of a 20-person accounting department and clerical staff, including assigning and monitoring tasks, and reviewing work; and » Preparation and coordination of requisite SEC reporting with independent accountants, outside experts and attorneys.
Results
The company's operations continued to enable member dealers to provide used car financing to customers who had limited access to more traditional consumer credit sources.
