Challenge 

A PE-backed digital advertising company with 4 operating divisions was preparing to go to market but encountered various reporting challenges. As a result, the company quickly recognized that it would not be able to go through a standard diligence process.  

Created through acquisitions of several different entities, the company was using discrete QuickBooks instances and lacked a centralized KPI reporting mechanism. While leaders made efforts to centralize corporate functions and financial reporting, a failed NetSuite implementation led to further data quality issues. 

Ultimately, the PE sponsor wanted to carve out several divisions and sell them separately, necessitating the preparation of carve-out income statements. 

How We Helped 

CrossCountry Consulting’s integrated accounting, data transformation, and carve-out teams led a series of cross-functional workstreams in close collaboration with sponsor and PortCo stakeholders. These efforts entailed comprehensive expertise and project management across several domains, including operational and financial accounting, data cube KPI preparation, and sell-side readiness. The team: 

  • Compiled division-level income statements. 
  • Prepared interdivisional allocations for 3 legal entities and 6 divisions (4 of which were operating and being carved out). 
  • Employed advanced data and analytics tools to collect, cleanse, and reconcile revenue and media spend data by division, which was previously kept in various systems and spreadsheets across the organization. 
  • Built meaningful, compelling visuals for all divisions in Power BI, creating a dynamic and interactive dashboard for management and buyers’ use. 
  • Prepared sell-side Quality of Earnings (QofE) and headcount analyses. 

“It would have taken me and my staff 10 times longer to go through the process you completed in just a few weeks.” – company CFO

Results

The culmination of these efforts generated key wins for the company, including: 

  • 4 sets of clean division-level reported and adjusted income statements in less than 3 months. To accomplish this task, the team provided robust support behind all management adjustments and comprehensive revenue and headcount analytics. 
  • On-time audit and Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM). While CIM and QofE/diligence report preparation was ongoing, management was able to complete an annual consolidated audit. Without CrossCountry’s involvement, management estimated the audit would have been delayed by at least a month, and the company would not have been able to go to market until a quarter later. 
  • Accelerated time-to-market and time-to-value by 6 months: With clear data, reporting, and accounting capabilities enabled, the sponsor was able to take all 4 operating divisions to market on a much faster timeline.  

Today, the sponsor is deal-ready and structured for long-term success.