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CLIENT CASE
STUDY
GLOBAL TRAINING CONSULTANCY -
FINANCE TRANSFORMATION
THE CLIENT
A global training consultancy with 93 employees and a 2023 turnover of US$13 million. The organisation specialises in strategic training solutions, employing over 100 specialists across writing, design, project management, facilitation, and digital expertise. Operating across three entities in the UK, US, and Singapore, they serve clients worldwide on a purchase order basis.
THE CHALLENGE
Our client had completed a basic software migration from MYOB to Xero, but the conversion was purely transactional—data moved, nothing optimised. When we first engaged in April 2023, we discovered a fragmented financial operation:
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Xero was used only for compliance, with reconciliation happening once monthly
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Google Sheets managed day-to-day finances, limiting visibility and creating duplication
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Expensify was misconfigured, coding entire credit card statements as single transactions and losing VAT recovery opportunities
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Three global entities lacked standardised chart of accounts, with hundreds of outdated Work in Progress codes
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No consolidated reporting across currencies (GBP, USD, SGD), hampering management decision-making
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Finance team burden was high, with month-end taking weeks and involving multiple stakeholders
The client had the right tools but didn’t know how to make them work together or leverage their full potential.
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OUR APPROACH: CONSTRUCT PHASE
Rather than rip-and-replace, we took a methodical, change-management-focused approach:
1. Foundation: Standardise & Simplify. We reviewed and rebuilt their chart of accounts across all three entities, eliminating hundreds of WIP codes and aligning expense categories with actual business needs. This created a clean foundation for all downstream systems.
2. Automate the Manual: We implemented Dext to eliminate manual data entry—documents now flow directly into Xero upon receipt. This solved a critical staffing gap created by a finance team reshuffle and freed up hours of manual work.
3. Fix the Hidden Problems: Expensify reconfiguration revealed a major issue: costs like mileage were being coded with 20% VAT incorrectly applied. We corrected this and discovered additional savings by ensuring VAT numbers were registered across all software providers, eliminating reverse charge VAT payments.
4. Unlock Visibility: We optimised Cledara integration to give the finance team clear visibility into software spending—a major cost category for the business. We also implemented Joiin for consolidated, multi-currency reporting across all three entities, reporting in USD as required by the holding company.
5. Embed & Support: Weekly meetings became standard practice, with email support for urgent queries. This regular cadence allowed us to solve problems quickly, answer questions, and continuously review processes.
THE TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY
Quick Wins (Months 1–3): OCR automation and basic Expensify fixes delivered immediate relief. However, we knew the real value lay deeper.
Ongoing Complexity (Months 4–12+): Mapping Work in Progress and Fees in Advance against specific client projects proved more nuanced than anticipated. We discovered that sales, project management, and finance teams all needed different views of the same data. Rather than over-complicating the chart of accounts, we introduced ‘teams’ and ‘customer project’ tracking, allowing granular reporting without clutter.
Pivots & Learning: Our initial choice for consolidated reporting couldn’t handle multi-currency complexity. We pivoted to Joiin, which required more configuration but delivered the flexibility needed. We also paused CRM integration until the client clarified internal tracking requirements—a decision that prevented costly rework later.
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THE RESULTS
Financial Impact: - £19,365 VAT reclaimed through retrospective analysis and corrected configurations going forward - Reduced external compliance costs by bringing VAT filing in-house - Additional savings from eliminating reverse charge VAT across software providers.
Operational Impact: - Month-end reduced from 2+ weeks to 2 working days, with real-time financial visibility throughout the month - PAYE, net wages, and pension control accounts now properly split and reconciled (previously impossible) - Journal import templates enable quick, error-free payroll entry - Year-end and compliance work significantly accelerated by consolidated Xero data.
Strategic Impact: - Finance team visibility improved across three global locations (London, Luxembourg, Singapore) - Auditor access to consolidated, meaningful reporting - Management reporting now supports capacity planning and profitability analysis by client and project.
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THE EVOLVE PHASE: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT & GROWTH PARTNERSHIP
The Construct phase delivered transformational change, but the real value emerges through sustained partnership. We’ve transitioned this client into the Evolve phase—a growth partnership model focused on continuous smaller improvements and retained strategic support.
Ongoing Priorities:
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CRM integration to enable forward-looking pipeline visibility and lifetime client value tracking
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Advanced project profitability reporting to support capacity planning and pricing decisions
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Automated client spend analytics to inform account management and growth strategy
The Partnership Model:
Rather than viewing the engagement as project-based, we’ve embedded ongoing support through regular check-ins and responsive guidance. This allows us to:
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Identify incremental improvements as the business evolves and scales
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Respond quickly to new challenges or operational changes
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Continuously refine processes based on real usage and team feedback
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Support the finance team as they develop new reporting needs
The Evolve phase recognises that digital transformation isn’t a destination, it’s a continuous journey. By maintaining regular touchpoints and staying attuned to the business, we help clients extract maximum value from their systems while adapting to growth, market changes, and evolving compliance requirements.
The Play Your ACE approach works because it recognises that transformation happens in stages. The Assess phase is where we identify the issues, audit current systems and processes, and plan the roadmap for transformation. This discovery work is critical—it ensures the Construct phase is built on a solid understanding of the business and its unique challenges. The Construct phase then builds the foundation and delivers quick wins through strategic implementation and process optimisation. Finally, lasting value comes from the Evolve phase—where sustained partnership, continuous refinement, and retained support ensure systems and processes evolve alongside the business itself.
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KEY TAKEAWAY
