Outsourcing the Chief Accountant Role as a Way to Cut Fixed Costs — Case Study

Rising fixed costs are a challenge for almost every manufacturing company today, and accounting is an area that often consumes more resources than it should. A nine-person department, unclear division of responsibilities, and a time-consuming month-end close — does that sound familiar? We show how outsourcing the Chief Accountant function delivered a real reduction in operating costs for a manufacturing company.

Starting point: an oversized department, mismatched costs

The client, a manufacturing company operating in a volatile and demanding market environment, faced the need for a significant optimization of fixed costs. One of the key areas under review turned out to be the internal accounting department, which numbered as many as 9 people.

The analysis quickly revealed the sources of inefficiency. Many activities were carried out manually, even though they could have been automated. Areas of responsibility overlapped within the team’s structure, leading to competency confusion and unnecessary duplication of work. The month-end close process – a key moment in every company’s accounting cycle – was time-consuming, placed a heavy burden on the organization, and often wrapped up at 6:30 PM on the deadline day.

In other words: the cost of maintaining such a large team was no longer in line with the company’s actual operational needs.

Our approach: analysis first, then reorganization

Before proposing any changes, we conducted a detailed analysis of the accounting processes and the department’s organizational structure. This stage allowed us to understand where the problem actually lay – not in the number of people as such, but in the way the department was organized and how it operated day to day.

On this basis, we:

• identified areas suitable for automation,
• simplified the document workflow,
• clarified the division of responsibilities within the team,
• implemented clear month-end close standards.

However, the key element of our recommendation was something more than simply improving existing processes. We proposed a hybrid model to the client, combining the company’s internal resources with expert external support – that is, our accounting oversight.

Target model: a smaller team, greater control

In the new organizational model, a 5-person internal team is responsible for day-to-day bookkeeping and contact with business partners – that is, for the tasks that require closeness to the company’s operations and daily availability. The role of Chief Accountant, meanwhile, was taken over by a JWW expert, who oversees the accuracy of the accounting records, carries out the month-end close process, and prepares and files tax declarations.

This solution allowed the company to maintain operational agility – the internal team stayed close to the company’s day-to-day affairs – while simultaneously ensuring professional oversight at the management level, without the need to maintain a large in-house staffing structure.

Results of the cooperation

The reorganization delivered measurable benefits in several areas at once:

• Lower costs – running the accounting department became significantly cheaper for the company.
• Shorter month-end close time – thanks to the standards implemented, the process stopped being an organizational bottleneck.
• Greater process transparency – a clear division of responsibilities eliminated task duplication and ambiguity over accountability.
• Reduced business risk – oversight of declarations and records by the JWW expert increased compliance security.
• Professional expert oversight – the role of Chief Accountant was placed in the hands of a highly experienced specialist, without the need to hire them full-time.

Takeaways for other manufacturing companies

This case study shows that optimizing accounting costs doesn’t have to mean simply cutting headcount or giving up control over financial processes. The key is an accurate diagnosis – understanding which tasks genuinely require the constant presence of an internal team, and which can be entrusted to an external expert without any loss of quality or security.

A hybrid model, combining a limited internal team with the outsourcing of management functions, works especially well for companies that want to both lower fixed costs and raise the level of expert oversight over their finances.

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