As a result of the sudden departure of the former CFO, a large workforce not-for-profit company with annual revenues at the time of $150 million serving the New York and Northeast area, retained William Murphy. At the time the departing CFO left the company, the organization was struggling with a corporate staff dealing with information systems in a state of flux, cash liquidity constraints, a finance group in disarray and an annual audit of the prior year financial results about to commence.
Upon taking over the CFO role William Murphy provided a leadership presence in the Finance Department encouraging cross communication and established a clear understanding of priorities and basic financial department structure to be able to prepare periodic financial reports for the executive team and operations. To address the cash liquidity constraints at the company, a weekly cash flow forecast as well as weekly tracking of actual results was put in place. William Murphy established regular and open communications between operations and finance and provided a steady hand to allow the finance department to continue functioning during the transition from the former CFO to a new CFO.
All of this occurred at the same time the company was converting the financial and management information system from a home grown outdated software to an Oracle developed and supported information system. During the 6 month engagement, under the leadership of William Murphy, the finance and accounting department was able to reduce the time it took to close the general ledger and prepare monthly financial statements from over 6 weeks to 3 weeks (with a clear path to being able to close and report by the end of 2 weeks), through the cash management discipline established by William Murphy, the company was able reduce the operational disruptions occurring due to late payments.