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LEADING HOSPITAL & HEALTHCARE COMPANY CASE STUDY
Providing continuity & expertise in the face of key-talent loss
Introduction
Staring leadership departures, a major corporate restructuring, and a backlog of accounting tasks square in the face, a major ambulatory care company realized it needed fast, effective accounting support. That's when they called Embark.
Our Solutions
Between its Outsourcing & Continuity and Accounting & Reporting solutions, Embark was the ideal partner to guide the company through such a critical stage.
Index
The “Big Wins”
1. Filled key role and responsibility gaps after a merger to ensure continuity, including Corporate Accounting leadership roles
2. Quickly and efficiently tackled a significant backlog of projects, system implementations, and technical accounting needs
Executive summary
Our client experienced the loss of key talent, particularly in its financial leadership, just before a major restructuring initiative across its accounting department. Management reached out to Embark to fill those critical areas in its corporate accounting group, as well as complete a backlog of projects, technical accounting analyses, and provide stability in its accounting procedures.
About the client
The client is a privately held hospital and healthcare company based in Texas and founded in 1998. It owns and operates standalone surgical facilities outside of hospital-based and outpatient locations, providing a superior experience for patients and significant administrative, clinical, and financial benefits to physicians. By the end of 2018, one of the largest names in the industry had increased its ownership in the client company to 95%.
Challenges & objectives
After an industry-leading provider completed its buyout of the client, the corporate cultures of the two entities began to merge. However, our client’s accounting function lacked the bandwidth to address particular projects and certain aspects of its accounting and reporting procedures. With the loss of key personnel, including leadership positions, the company identified some critical needs and objectives to fill through the Embark engagement:
- Leadership continuity during the restructuring phase until the company could find permanent replacements
- Guidance on potential and closed acquisitions, including reviews of its acquisitions to ensure appropriate accounting treatments
- Expertise to quickly address technical accounting issues, including quarterly impairment, fixed asset impairment, and intangible analyses
- Review of the company’s lease accounting procedures
How Embark helped
Given the scope of our client's needs during the restructuring, Embark was able to successfully addresses each of management's objectives for the corporate accounting group, including:
- Fulfilled key functions across the accounting group, starting with the vacant Corporate Accounting leadership roles
- Reviewed the purchase price accounting for all recent acquisitions
- Completed all outstanding technical accounting projects
- Reviewed and addressed issues within its lease accounting, also creating recommendations for the acquirer to streamline the client’s lease accounting procedures
- Provided general oversight of the company’s financials, also reviewing monthly close packets for questions and variance analysis in preparation for management review
- Implemented and wrote the technical memo for the new CECL (ASC 326) standard
- Reviewed the control environment to ensure it was operating effectively, communicating with internal audit and continuously documenting control performance
- Implemented changes in the company’s different systems for the corporate restructuring, working with the legal and IT departments throughout
- Reviewed and assisted with joint venture accounting
- Prepared the statement of cash flows as well as various operational reports
- Drafted the client’s standalone quarterly and year-end reports
- Provided critical, ongoing audit support throughout the engagement
- Recommended key changes to invoicing systems and procedures to ensure timely payments
Result: our client completed its reorganization with a streamlined accounting function
As a result of our work, the company was able to leverage its expanded operations directly into market share based on reliable, accurate, and compliant accounting. They are already one of the largest home healthcare providers in the country, and has its sights set on even greater market share and expanded services. At Embark, we’re proud to help our partners reach their potential, using our Big 4-based experience to help them thrive.
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