Newsletter – July 2013

SEC Case Study #1

Background:
A $100 million publicly-held service Company had not filed its SEC reports (10-Ks, 10-Qs) on a timely basis. The CFOs attention had been focused on non-financial reporting operational matters.

The Issue:
The Company, wishing to bring its reporting current, engaged CFO Consulting Partners LLC to prepare the financial sections of its 10-K, including the MD&A section. Before completing the SEC statement, various reconciliations and other accounting matters needed to be addressed and completed. CFO Consulting Partners accomplished those operational and accounting needs, developed practices to assure such matters could be addressed in a timely manner on an ongoing basis, and prepared the financial statements, footnotes and MD&A section.

The Result:
All objectives were completed.

SEC Case Study #2

Background:
A public-company community bank had aggressively expanded its commercial lending business. The growth in this product line outstripped the Bank’s staffing and internal controls in its credit and accounting areas. Symptoms at the Bank included significant loan losses, errors in its calculation of its Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL), and its lack of adequate training and oversight of the credit administration function. When CFO Consulting Partners was engaged, the Bank did not have a Chief Financial Officer.

The Problem:
The Bank’s Board engaged CFO Consulting Partners LLC to provide it with a CFO who was acceptable to the regulator and who could provide the senior-level financial management support needed to mitigate the internal control weaknesses. We found that some of the errors were so significant that reports to the SEC (10-Qs) and reports to bank regulators (Call Reports) were materially inaccurate, and we suggested to the Board that those financial reports be restated.

The Result:
We restated SEC financial statements, implemented controls and policies and procedures to resolve the internal control weaknesses, reviewed and corrected various analyses, and trained credit department staff in the preparation of the ALLL analysis. We frequently communicated our many reviews and changes to the Board and to Senior Management. Finally, we assisted in the hiring of a permanent CFO, and developed a transition and knowledge transfer plan which we executed during an overlap period with the new CFO.

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CFO Consulting Partners LLC is a boutique financial management consulting firm providing accounting and risk management services to CEOs and CFOs of small and midsized public and private companies. For more information, please contact Allan Tepper at 609-309-9307, x701 or visit us on the web at www.cfoconsultingpartners.com