Case Study: Current vs. Future State Analysis Strengthens Women-Focused E-commerce Company Operations

Learn how this chic personal care company outsourced or streamlined their accounting and operations practices to prepare for growth and support future business opportunities.

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Executive Summary

A high-growth B2C e-commerce company that sells women’s beauty and hygiene products revamped its internal accounting systems and processes and streamlined inventory management by utilizing Withum’s Outsourced Accounting Systems and Services (OASyS) Team. Withum used a current state vs. future state analysis to strengthen the company’s systems and processes around accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR) and inventory through cloud-based technology and outsourced accounting professionals.

The Client

The company is a New York-based e-commerce company that sells women’s beauty and hygiene products. Experiencing tremendous growth from a startup to an established business, the company ships products across the country through a subscription-based business model.

The Challenge

The women-focused e-commerce company knew that their significant growth strained their limited internal accounting, finance teams and existing systems and processes. Management wanted guidance on the best way to support future growth and position the company for potential acquisition if the opportunity arose. The company wasn’t sure where to start but knew they needed outside help to improve financial reporting accuracy and efficiency to achieve future goals.

The Approach And Solution

Using a current state vs. future state analysis, Withum’s OASyS Team delivered a company diagnostic report to determine what business areas had the potential for optimization. By holding interviews with the management, finance and product operation teams, Withum’s outsourced accounting team identified five significant areas of focus for the business, many of which centered manual processes that wasted time and resources:

• Revenue/Receivables
• Expenses/Payables
• Payroll
• Inventory
• Month-end Close

Withum’s OASyS team recommended outsourcing the company’s accounting and finance operations to provide the staffing and knowledge the e-commerce business required to scale and grow. As part of the outsourced accounting function, Withum modernized and automated the company’s accounting processes by implementing cloud-based AP/AR software.

• Cashflow360 and Bill.com Implementation and Training: Cashflow360 integrates with bill.com to automate the bill pay process so the company can securely approve and submit payments in real-time. Cashflow360 also allows the company to get paid faster and automatically syncs with their accounting software to reconcile transactions and minimize time spent on back-office tasks. Withum’s OASyS Team supports the onsite staff by uploading bills and processing payments as needed.

Withum’s outsourced accounting team also provided additional assistance to speed up month-end close. The OASyS Team created new schedules and enhanced existing processes for prepaid and accrued expenses and AR and deferred revenue for better financial reporting. These changes streamlined the back-office functions utilizing bill.com/Cashflow360 and Xero, the company’s accounting software. The modernization of accounting processes and systems also enabled the company to better track and manage inventory.

The Results, ROI

Withum’s current state vs. future state analysis created a roadmap to build a robust accounting and finance team through outsourcing to support its rapid growth. Withum’s outsourced accounting professionals shortened the e-commerce company’s month-end close from approximately two months to an average of three weeks. The Withum team modernized accounting systems and manual processes by implementing an automated, cloud-based invoicing system that syncs with the company’s existing accounting software.

As a bonus to the B2C women’s beauty and hygiene product company, Withum provided consulting on ASC 842 lease standards and added audit readiness services since the company was exploring acquisition opportunities.