Case Studies: Drinks

Following an introduction from RBS, FD Solutions were asked to improve the management accounting processes in order that the business funders and management were able to make more informed decisions. The management accounts were being prepared using Sage Line 50 and the reports were not user friendly. Bryan Lawrie produced an Excel model which linked directly to the Sage data and consequently, improved the speed and accuracy of the numbers. More time could then be spent interpreting the information and ensuring the stakeholders received useful information as opposed to a string of numbers.

Following a decision to expand its product lines and geographical presence, the business needed to improve its budgets. Historically, only a profit and loss account was prepared. Bryan Lawrie created a multi product, multi location and multi currency integrated profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow model in Excel. This model was used to make decisions over pricing, stock holding levels and the speed of expansion, taking into account the cash resources available.

The part-time accountant used to process all the accounting entries in Sage and then give the monthly Sage reports to management. Within a few weeks, we had trained the accountant to be able to prepare a full management accounts pack with commentary in a format that the directors can understand.

The business only used Sage to process the accounting transactions. Bryan Lawrie upgraded the Sage product and introduced the stock management system. Purchase orders, sales invoices and stock transfers were then all done inside the Sage system as opposed to lots of different stand alone Excel workbooks.  This greatly improved the accuracy and speed of the information produced.

Our finance directors who have experience in this business sector include Bryan Lawrie, Malcolm Durham and Chris Backhouse