SaaS · 🇺🇸 United States · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · 🇩🇪 Germany · 🇸🇬 Singapore · 🇦🇺 Australia
Five countries, five bookkeepers, five different answers
A SaaS group with local bookkeepers in each market spent more time coordinating them than the work itself took.
SaaS group, entities in 5 countries. Client identity withheld — we publish names only with written permission, so this engagement is described by its shape rather than by who it was.
5 → 1
Providers consolidated
22 → 8
Days to group close
4
Time zones removed from the loop
The situation
- Each entity used a local bookkeeper found through a local contact. Each had its own chart of accounts, close timetable and reporting format.
- The group finance lead spent most of each month chasing five providers across four time zones.
What we found
- Five incompatible charts of accounts and five different close timetables.
- Intercompany recharges recorded on one side only in most periods.
- Two entities had VAT or GST positions that had never been reviewed by anyone with a group view.
What we did
- Designed a group chart of accounts mapped onto each entity's local statutory requirements.
- Consolidated delivery to one team covering all five jurisdictions with a single close calendar.
- Introduced intercompany matching before close and reviewed each entity's indirect tax position.
The outcome
- Group close moved from 22 days to 8, and the finance lead stopped coordinating and started analysing.
- The indirect tax review found one registration obligation that had been missed entirely.
What we'd flag
Consolidating providers meant ending five relationships, two of which were personal connections of the founders. That was the hardest part of the project.
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