Engineering services
Faster financial reporting for an engineering firm
Client
Marlow Engineering
Service
Fractional CFO
Location
Boise, Idaho
Marlow grew to 140 engineers in four years, and its finance processes did not keep pace. Reports were late, project margins were unclear and the bank required better reporting before renewing the credit line. A Vantage partner joined as fractional CFO two days a week.
The challenge
Month-end took almost four weeks, so every decision was made on numbers that were already out of date. Nobody could say which projects made money until long after they had finished.
What we did
Rebuilt the chart of accounts around projects and service lines
Set up a monthly close calendar with owners for every step
Introduced a thirteen-week cash forecast reviewed every Monday
Prepared the lender pack and led the renewal talks
The result
The close now takes eight days. Customers pay in 39 days instead of 61, and the credit line was renewed at a larger limit and a lower rate.
8 days
Monthly close, down from 26
39 days
Average time to get paid, from 61
$2.4M
Credit line renewed on better terms
We now see margin by project while the work is still running, which has changed how we make decisions.
Ellen Marlow
Chief Executive
