Private equity firms are adopting a more hands-on approach in acquiring company portfolios, and this presents challenges when aligning business strategies, corporate cultures, and leadership. Technical and operational complexities also arise as firms strive for greater control, significantly impacting their operations in today's business landscape. One common challenge that portfolio companies face is inefficient processes caused by system limitations and undefined processes. These inefficiencies hinder core business units from making progress and can lead to errors, delays, employee dissatisfaction, and other issues that can negatively affect the company’s financial health.


The fragmentation and dispersion of financial data also create bottlenecks that impede the company's growth, posing operational barriers for private equity firms. 


Furthermore, private equity firms struggle to produce timely, accurate, and audit-ready financial reports. The lack of comprehensive financial information can limit their ability to make informed decisions that are crucial to the success of the company.


Learn how we helped a portfolio company with digital transformation, accounting, and statutory work to provide decision makers with the necessary insights amidst a dynamic financial landscape.

 

Achieving Financial Visibility and Compliance: A Case Study of a Portfolio Company, ABC
 

Client: 
A Portfolio Company of a private equity firm in the technology industry, specialising in logistics management software.


Background: 
The private equity firm recently acquired ABC Pte Ltd (“ABC”), a technology provider of logistics management software based in Singapore. To assist in navigating the changing financial landscape and facilitate informed decision-making, RSM’s business solutions division provided ABC with digital transformation, accounting services, and annual statutory services. 


Our experienced financial professionals worked closely with the portfolio company’s management team to ensure that the private equity firm received timely and accurate financial reports, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of the company’s financial performance and make informed decisions based on reliable data.


How we helped: 
Project management and digitalisation - Our project management team oversaw the seamless integration of ABC’s accounting system with the private equity group's requirements. We successfully migrated the on-premise accounting system to a cloud-based accounting system.

Our team carefully analysed and addressed any common misalignments to ensure efficient and smooth operations for both parties.


Backlog and right accounting treatment - Our team worked closely with ABC’s management to identify and rectify any accounting backlogs and deferred revenue issues in their financial records. We also ensured compliance with FRS regulations by transitioning from cash basis to accrual basis accounting. 


Cash flow management - We assisted ABC’s management in recording, tracking and monitoring their weekly inflows and outflows. This provided valuable insights into the suppliers and customers that are critical components of the company’s cash management plan. 


Monthly management reports and dashboards - We provided ongoing monthly outsourced accounting support for monthly reporting, which included delivering up-to-date financial data through user-friendly dashboards. These dashboards provided clear and comprehensible insights into their profit-enhancement strategies, enabling them to effectively monitor their performance, implement action plans, and make informed decisions to propel their growth.


Annual Compliance – We provided support to ABC in meeting its ACRA and IRAS compliance deadlines. This included the preparation of their unaudited financial report and handling their corporate tax and XBRL filing, ensuring that all necessary requirements were fulfilled on time.


Throughout our engagement with ABC, we established clear communication channels, developed a detailed project plan, and provided ongoing guidance and support to ensure the successful integration of its accounting system with the private equity group’s requirements. 


Our dedication to helping ABC’s management team and the private equity group resulted in a smooth transition to cloud accounting, rectification of accounting issues, improved cash flow management, timely compliance with regulations, and user-friendly monthly reporting dashboards.

 

If you are interested in our advisory services for your private equity practice, please do not hesitate to contact our specialists:

Wenxue Tan
Partner & Industry Lead, Private Equity Practice
T:  +65 6594 7887 
[email protected]

Fionn Shoo
Director & Deputy Industry Lead, Private Equity Practice
T:  +65 6594 7946
[email protected]