Business Services
Jennifer Brown Consulting works with organizations to unleash the power of human potential by delivering strategic leadership and diversity consulting.
“I am so grateful to the team at The CEO’s Right Hand. While I always knew that we could do a much better job managing the financial aspects of the firm, it wasn’t until TCRH showed up and took the reins that I really understood just how important having a trusted advisor and quality accounting was to our success.”
Jennifer Brown
The Client
As a certified woman- and LGBT-owned strategic leadership and diversity consulting firm, Jennifer Brown Consulting understands how important it is to empower leaders to drive positive organizational change and the future of work in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. Based in New York City with a global presence, JBC partners with HR, talent management, diversity and inclusion, and business leadership teams on change management efforts relating to human capital everywhere from North America to Southeast Asia.
The Challenge and The Solution
In 2018, JBC was at a critical juncture. Demand for the firm’s consulting services was strong and growing, but the firm’s internal finance and accounting infrastructure lacked the necessary processes and controls to support this growth. A recent change in financial and operational leadership caused the founder/CEO, Jennifer Brown, to take a step back and reassess the needs of the firm to support long-term growth. Furthermore, the outsourced bookkeeping firm did not provide the necessary CFO support.
The decision was made to bring on The CEO’s Right Hand (TCRH) to provide a single, “full-stack” approach to managing all the finance and accounting functions. Working directly with the Executive Team, William Lieberman joined the team as a strategic financial advisor. In this capacity, he works directly with executive leadership (CEO, CRO, and COO) to help effect healthy change and navigate the challenges of growing a professional services practice. In addition, the TCRH team includes a fractional CFO and full-charge bookkeeper.
The collective team has been instrumental in implementing a disciplined approach to a variety of areas across the firm: variable compensation planning and execution, conversion from cash to accrual accounting, improved budgeting / forecasting, cash flow management, accounts receivable / collections process, structured month-end financial reporting, monthly executive team meetings, quarterly strategic planning sessions, and more.
The Results
With TCRH assistance, JBC leadership has much greater trust in the numbers being provided to them by the finance and accounting team. The CEO can make informed investment decisions with greater confidence about the financial condition of the company. All members of the executive team now have visibility as to the historical results as well as forecasted cash flow, enabling everyone to remain in sync when critical decisions need to be made. Furthermore, the debt on the company’s balance sheet has been significantly reduced enabling the firm to invest in working capital needs and not further debt service.
