Region: Philadelphia
Industry: Printing and Publishing
Service Line(s): Accounting Services
Re-engineered consolidation and close processes; wrote accounting policies and procedures; supported management.
"AC Lordi has consistently provided excellent resources to support our financial needs. Whether at the staff, senior, manager, or director level we have been tremendously pleased with their professionalism and expertise. Even if it’s short notice they are always able to satisfy our needs."
Michele Needham, Former CFO
Company Background:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) is a leading international publisher of professional health information for physicians, nurses, clinicians, and students.
Business Challenge:
LWW has undergone 3 separate mergers over the last seven years. When coupled with two reorganizations and archaic financial systems, this has led to significant challenges for the LWW financial staff. The reorganizations and turnover at the top and middle levels has caused a critical lack of knowledge of systems, accounts, and processes.
AC Lordi Consulting Solution:
AC Lordi supported by its staffing partner Peopleflex Accounting Professionals put together an experienced financial team consisting of a Practice Director, Project Manager and several staff accountants, all with extensive experience in account reconciliations and working with Big 4 audit teams. Peopleflex's staff augmentation allowed us to tackle an enormous amount of work in a tight time frame. We began a comprehensive reconciliation effort, examining every Balance Sheet account, and working closely with the Company’s CFO and Controller to develop standard operating procedures for the completion of these reconciliations. We also trained the staff at LWW on how to perform account reconciliations according to the new policies. In addition, we continue to work with Lippincott on numerous accounting initiatives, including:
- Account reconciliations for all balance sheet accounts
- SOPs for the completion of the account reconciliations
- Ramses (Pre-Sarbanes assessment)
- Development of procedures for all processes
- Month-end close support
- Detailed royalty analysis
- Development of new financial organizational structure with adjusted responsibilities
Value Delivered:
Our work enabled LWW to meet its deadline for reconciliation of its balance sheet accounts. The standardized processes we developed for the LWW Accounting Department streamlined the account reconciliation process and readied the Company for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley. Currently, we are working with LWW to reconcile additional balance sheet accounts, implement standardized accounting procedures across its enterprise, and document and test these procedures for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.