A trading group that now closes by the ninth

The group had grown from one trading company into four: a mainland company, two free zone companies and a holding company. Each kept its own books in a different system, and intercompany balances never agreed.

Management accounts arrived three to four weeks after month end, so the owners made stock and pricing decisions on numbers that were already a month old. The bank asked for consolidated figures at renewal, and the finance team needed six weeks to produce them.

• Moved all four companies onto one cloud ledger with a shared chart of accounts.
• Rebuilt the opening balances and agreed every intercompany account back to January.
• Set weekly bank and card reconciliations, with receipts captured on the day.
• Wrote a close checklist with an owner and a due day for every task.
• Added a one page cash note to the monthly pack, written for the owners, not for accountants.

The group now closes every month by the ninth working day, with consolidated figures in the same pack. Intercompany balances agree at every month end without manual adjustments.

At the next bank renewal the consolidated accounts were ready on the day they were requested, and the facility was renewed on the existing terms. Overdue receivables older than 90 days fell by AED 1.2M within two quarters, because the owners could finally see them.