Accounting ‘Angels’ to the Rescue
Written by Mary Welch Tuesday, August 31 2010
Dixie McCurley laughs at the thought of her team being the computer version of Charlie’s Angels. But it’s not that far-fetched. After all, Charlie’s team was called in to help solve mysteries and make everything better, and that is exactly what McCurley and her team at Gifford Hillegass & Ingwersen LLB (GH&I) do – except the GH&I team solves problems for clients whose computerized accounting operations are a mystery.
“So many clients of ours really are not sure if their accounting operations systems are the best for them,” says McCurley, a manager of business advisory for GH&I. “They may have bought too much software or not enough or the wrong kind. Or they have other accounting problems that they’re not sure about. We go in and do an analysis and make suggestions and then implement.”
The other two “angels” who work with McCurley are LaShawn Gaines and Jennifer Farnam. Together they can help a company with a variety of problems including inaccurate, unbalanced, or untimely financial statements, accounting software selection and implementation, poor cash management, replacement of outdated technology, turnover, and management reporting policies.
“This has become a good niche for us,” McCurley says, “because we can go in and see the entire picture and organization and how it all flows together. And, then we can structure a solution that fits and is customized.”
Among improvements the team has made for clients are reducing collection days from 60 to fewer than 30, discovering $300,000 in unbilled revenue, and cutting personnel by 75 percent.
John Roudebush sings the praises of this software swat team. “They came in and identified that our software wasn’t the best option for our business. They switched us to another one, and we have seen a tremendous cost savings. Not only that, I understand our system now where before I didn’t. The system they put in does everything, and I’m capable of running it myself. Another benefit is that, personnel-wise, it takes fewer people and fewer man hours to get the jobs done.” Roudebush is president of Ecolink Inc., which sells products to help clients with industrial cleaning jobs that must meet regulatory standards and mandates as well as technical specifications.
“With Dixie and her team’s help and the accounting system conversion, we’ve reduced the redundancy of separate systems, cut our accounting staff, improved the timeliness of our reporting, and the accuracy of bank information,” he says.
For Cindy Lumpkin, a partner in The Grand Marlin Restaurant , Pensacola Beach, Fla., the team integrated several different systems, and now Lumpkin is able to do all the accounting herself, saving money on personnel costs. Among several improvements, the GH&I team provided Lumpkin with remote access to accounting information, automation of payroll integration, reduction of time spent recording daily and monthly data, and ease of use of the accounting system.
Charlie would be so proud.
Mary Welch is a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dawson Times, Plan Your Meeting magazine, and Atlanta Business magazine. Previously, she held many positions with Leader Publishing, including editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman, editor of Business to Business magazine, and editor of Catalyst magazine. As editor of Business to Business, she assigned, edited, and conceptualized a series that was awarded Silver in the 2005 GAMMA Awards for Best Series. Welch was a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle for eight years and freelanced for publications including Glamour, Advertising Age, South, Georgia Trend, and Oz. From 2000 to 2003, she served as vice president of media relations for Bank of America, during which time she authored Forever Green: A History and Hope of the American Forest with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.
