CFO Advisory

This iconic Australian fashion house was undergoing a period of growth when Olvera Advisors was engaged to provide bookkeeping and CFO advisory services. We provided expert insights into operations to help navigate COVID-19 and accelerate growth strategies.

Background

Founded in 2007, this Australian fashion business is a household name domestically and has a global footprint with its products sold through premium retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods UK, Farfetch, Galerie Lafayette, Saks 5th Avenue and David Jones.

Despite its significant local and overseas presence, the business does not have a dedicated inhouse CFO function and engaged us in 2021 for bookkeeping and to advise management on COVID-19 disruption, and strategy to help deliver targeted results and generate value.

How we helped

The business was dissatisfied with their current bookkeeping solution and came to us seeking to improve data integrity around production and reporting of their financial data.

We stepped in and worked with employees from the bottom up to understand internal systems and relevant data touchpoints, then implemented changes to ensure outputs being delivered to directors and management reflected up-to-date and accurate financial records.

The process involved working closely with senior management to fully understand the business and discover what needed to be changed in terms of reporting, and then make recommendations to enable the business to feel supported and secure in challenging times.

As part of this, we assisted the business to gain greater insight into the financial performance of their network of stores in the context of COVID-19, and to make pivotal business decisions around future overseas expansion in Europe and US, and local stores.

This meant, in part, assisting with critical decisions on all aspects of the business amid the disrupted COVID-19 environment. It also involved advising on the impact of overseas market on cashflow, and the financial implications going forward.

We also worked closely with the business to plan and implement strategic steps to achieve its desired growth by reviewing and making recommendations around options on production, pricing and costs so that strategic plans were aligned with cash flow and capital provisions

Results

We continue to oversee all the bookkeeping of the business as well as the provision of  monthly reports, and also oversee their cashflow on a weekly basis. Additionally, we continue to liaise monthly with management on financial results and provide benchmarks and/or anomalies in trading to management and directors to guide future decision making with timely and accurate financial information.

This Australian hospitality group was in financial difficulty when the principals of Olvera Advisors were engaged to provide management advisory services via external CFO support. This delivered interim business continuity management services at a challenging time in the  lifecycle.

Background

This large hospitality group was founded in 2000 and operated six restaurants and several other hospitality venues in Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide.

It employed around 1200 employees, including part-time employees and casuals, and the entered receivership in mid-2016, listing Sydney’s lockout laws and debt incurred from an aggressive expansion program as key contributors to its demise.

We were brought into to provide management advisory services and stepped into deliver external CFO support over a 14-month period when the inhouse position became vacant.

How we helped

Our key function was to provide interim business continuity management services in order fill a temporary CFO gap by delivering the role’s responsibilities for appointed receivers.

This involved performance of all aspects of the CFO role including providing financial modelling based on assumptions that reflect company performance, trading cycle, industry and other business drivers. It also included having to understand and guide the company’s financial decisions at a particularly challenging time for the hospitality group.

On this front,  CFO duties at this point in the  lifecycle involved managing forecast cashflows and budgets to monitor company performance, overseeing internal processes to ensure data integrity and proper financial reporting, as well as understanding venue profitability to make strategic decisions on complex issues in what was a severely distressed environment.

From there, we continued with regular CFO functions on an intermediary basis that included the winding down of the group, asset realisations and resolving staffing issues.

With our expert external support in the CFO role, receivers were able have confidence that the financial direction of the business at this challenging time was clear and focused.

Results

Our external CFO support was able to provide expert financial guidance to the group resulting a successful outcome for receivers. Sale agreements were made for 16 of the 17 venues, each sold as going concerns. At all of the venues except one, the receivership succeeded in keeping staff jobs and maintaining continuity of the venues for customers.

This Australian fashion brand was planning overseas expansion when significant financial challenges emerged. It engaged the principals of Olvera Advisors to restructure its operations in order to improve underlying performance and assist it to drive long-term value creation.

Background

Founded in 2007, this Sydney-based fashion brand works with manufacturers in Switzerland and Italy to develop innovative and high end ready to wear products for the global fashion market.

Its products are stocked in influential global retailers like Selfridges, Dover Street Market, Browns and Net-a-Porter, and it has expanded into accessories with a sunglasses line.

How we helped

The business came to the principals of Olvera Advisors in 2019 seeking assistance to support and supplement their internal financial management ahead of a planned overseas expansion.

We discovered, after creating a cashflow model for the client, that the business suffered from data anomalies which subsequently revealed sub-optimal financial performance.  At this point, we oversaw the cashflow function and took on a restructuring role to address critical underlying performance by working with the business’ management team and directors.

The true state of the business’ finances meant we had to move fast to improve internal processes and liaise closely with the directors and management to assist the business to regain cost control of operations in order to return it to a path to stability and growth.

This was an approximately six-month process and involved performance of an independent analysis of current financial performance, the rollout of communication strategies to maintain trust with lenders and investors, and ongoing cash management and reporting.

At the time we were engaged, the business manufactured products locally. Critically, as part of the business restructure that we undertook, we were able to assist in de-risking the business by getting this function licensed out to an overseas manufacturing partner.

This was just one part of assessing all components of the business to determine which components were underperforming and take relevant action, including exploring cost-out programs and exit strategies for underperforming assets and operations.

Results

As a result of our restructuring services, the business formed a strategic partnership with a reputable manufacturer and distributor in Italy. This resulted in increased profitability as part of efforts to help drive profit growth and cash flow generation into the future.