At an international player in the agricultural sector, a major ERP migration presented significant challenges for the bookkeeping department. To free up key internal staff to focus entirely on this ERP project, TriFinance brought an experienced Finance Manager on board two months before go-live. She assumed leadership of the internal accounting team and ensured that day-to-day financial operations continued to run smoothly. When a massive backlog in accounts payable (AP) arose after the go-live, a team of three TriFinance consultants was brought in for a month to clear the backlog. This gave the bookkeeping team a new breath of fresh air and the opportunity to broaden their focus to more structural process improvement and knowledge retention.
Preparing for the migration: continuity and stability
With the arrival of TriFinance consultant Evy Mathues as interim Finance Manager, the organization found the operational relief it needed. She took over the daily management of the internal accounting team, focusing on streamlining the monthly closings and ensuring reliable group reporting. As a stable link between bookkeeping and controlling, she oversaw the running affairs. This allowed the internal team lead to free up their time entirely to lead the intensive ERP migration process.
Aligning operations with the new software
The go-live had a greater impact on operational bookkeeping processes than anticipated. Because complex exceptions only become apparent in practice, invoice processing initially proved to be very time-consuming. In addition, the planned accounts payable automation was not yet operational, causing the invoice flow to unexpectedly run through a labor-intensive manual process.
The high workload also led to temporary understaffing, which strained the capacity and case knowledge within the bookkeeping team. The combination of all these factors resulted in a backlog of over 800 purchase invoices. The mounting payment arrears put pressure on internal relations with management and the business, which only increased the need for coordinated action.
Specialized operational support as a turning point
In her role as interim Finance Manager, Evy had a direct view of the challenges on the work floor. To alleviate the immediate pressure, management initially sought internal reassignments and general administrative support. However, the specific complexity of the new ERP system and the nature of the outstanding invoices required more in-depth financial expertise.
In close partnership with the CFO, it was therefore decided to switch to a specialized approach.
TriFinance was entrusted with the task of assembling an expert team of three young bookkeeping consultants, one of whom was consultant Ibe Driesen, to serve as temporary reinforcements for the permanent team. This was not a traditional capacity expansion, but rather the deliberate deployment of smart support in finance operations: finance-driven professionals who quickly mastered the new systems and systematically eliminated the backlog.
The most important lesson I’ve learned from this process is that you shouldn’t wait too long when the backlog starts to pile up. By immediately bringing in professionals with the right system and process knowledge, you tackle the problem at its root and completely unburden the management team.
From acute capacity boost in accounts payable to structural solutions
With peaks of up to 100 new purchase invoices per day, on top of the historical backlog, maintaining a clear overview was crucial. Thanks to daily status meetings, the TriFinance team immediately identified the bottlenecks, enabling the entire backlog to be successfully cleared within one month.
Now that operational stability had been restored, the TriFinance team’s capacity could be efficiently scaled back. To sustainably address the outflow of permanent staff in the AP department and ensure daily continuity, consultant Ibe remained on board. From this stable foundation, space emerged to focus on structural solutions and process improvements. He identified that duplicate Excel files and a lack of coordination between finance and procurement were unnecessarily slowing down the AP process. By proactively engaging in dialogue with the other departments, source data is now centralized in shared documents, resulting in significant and lasting time savings.
Mentorship and operational quality assurance
This project perfectly illustrates TriFinance’s unique approach. Evy seamlessly combined her role as interim Finance Manager with that of mentor to the junior consultants. Because she, as an experienced manager, guided and coached the junior consultants on the job every day, the organization did not lose valuable time on onboarding, and high-quality output was guaranteed from day one.
To ensure that the process insights gained would be sustainably embedded for the future, the team documented the complex invoice flows in accessible manuals.
In addition to simply processing invoices, I made a conscious effort to use my soft skills to build a bridge with the business side and work together to find solutions that work efficiently for everyone.
Key results at a glance
- Continuity in leadership: Day-to-day financial administration and group reporting continued uninterrupted thanks to an experienced interim Finance Manager.
- High-impact AP support with end-to-end results: Clearing the critical backlog (800+ invoices) within one month not only brought peace of mind to the department but also secured the supply chain and strategic supplier relationships.
- Cross-departmental synergy: Communication and information sharing between procurement and finance were structurally improved and centralized.
- Sustainable knowledge retention: Development of clear manuals and process descriptions.
Do you need help with leadership or proactive operational support in finance?
Is your organization dealing with the aftermath of a complex system implementation, or are you looking for temporary leadership to help you through an IT transition? TriFinance combines high-quality operational execution with broad end-to-end process knowledge to quickly get your finance department back on track.
