Finance integration that closes the books on schedule.
Post-acquisition finance integration for acquirers and PE platform companies doing add-ons. The chart of accounts, the close, the systems, cash and banking, and reporting to the sponsor, folded in on a schedule with the acquired finance team retained. Led by Megan VanWinkle, CPA, MBA. Pairs with technology integration from the same practice, so the systems and the people are handled together.
Books, cash, systems, in that order of urgency
The sponsor needs a consolidated number first. The systems can wait for a clean close. The team decides whether to stay in the first 30 days.
Chart of accounts and consolidation
The acquired ledger mapped to yours, intercompany handled, and a consolidated close that produces one set of numbers the committee trusts.
Close calendar and policies
Both companies on the same calendar with the same accounting policies, so the first consolidated close is a process and not a project.
Cash and banking
Accounts, signers, treasury, payroll, and vendor payments transitioned without a missed payroll or a frozen account.
Systems
Accounting, billing, payroll, and expense. What to consolidate, what to leave alone, and when to migrate. See financial systems.
Sponsor and board reporting
The reporting package the sponsor expects, the KPIs defined the same way in both companies, and the covenant and lender reporting that comes with the deal.
The finance team
Roles, reporting lines, and the retention conversations. Who leads, who stays, and what each person hears from whom, and when.
The first 100 days, then the long tail
The critical path is the first consolidated close. Everything else runs on its own schedule with the acquired team doing most of it.
Diligence into plan
The financial due diligence findings become the integration plan: what to consolidate, what to fix, what to leave alone, and who owns each item.
Cash, people, and access
Banking and signers transitioned, payroll confirmed, reporting lines settled, retention conversations done. The acquired team hears the plan from someone who understands their close.
First consolidated close
Chart of accounts mapped, policies aligned, calendars merged, and the first consolidated numbers delivered to the sponsor on the normal schedule.
Systems and handoff
Migrations scheduled after clean closes, the playbook written for the next add-on, and a finance leader in place. Megan steps back or stays fractional.
A playbook for the next add-on
- Repeatable. The first integration produces the chart of accounts map, the close calendar, the reporting package, and the decisions that recur. The second one is faster.
- A resource the operating partner can send in. Diligence before the deal, integration after it, and an interim CFO when the add-on's finance leader leaves.
- Finance and technology together. Justin handles the technology integration, Megan the finance side, from one practice on one plan.
- Written for the committee. Status the deal team can read in five minutes, and risks surfaced early instead of in the quarterly review.
A close that changed mid-month, and nobody told them
Acquired finance teams leave when their close process changes without warning, when decisions reach them second-hand, and when the systems they know are replaced before the first consolidated numbers are out.
The fix is a plan they can read, a leader who understands their close, and a migration scheduled after a clean close instead of during one.
Finance integration questions
What does finance integration cover?
Everything that has to be true for the acquired company's numbers to roll up into yours: the chart of accounts and consolidation, the close calendar, accounting policies, the systems, cash and banking, reporting to the sponsor or the board, and the finance team that does the work.
How long does finance integration take?
The first consolidated close is the milestone. The plan targets it within the first 100 days, with the systems migration and the longer tail scheduled around the close calendar rather than against it.
Do we have to move the acquired company onto our systems?
Not on day one, and sometimes not at all. The plan separates what the consolidation needs now, which is a mapped chart of accounts and a close on the same calendar, from what the platform wants eventually. Migration happens after a clean close, not during one.
Do you work with PE platforms doing add-ons?
Yes. The first integration produces a playbook: the chart of accounts map, the close calendar, the reporting package, and the decisions that recur. The second add-on is faster, and the operating partner has a finance resource to send in.
Can you do the diligence before the deal?
Yes. Financial due diligence findings become the integration plan, so nothing found before close is rediscovered after it.
How do you keep the acquired finance team?
By telling them the plan early, giving them a role in it, and not changing their close process in the middle of a close. People leave when decisions reach them second-hand. A written plan they can read fixes most of that.
How is finance integration engaged?
As a scoped project through the first consolidated close, or as an interim or fractional CFO engagement that runs the integration alongside the function. Scoped after a call, settled in the first conversations, and written into the agreement.
Closing soon?
A free 30-minute call. Bring the diligence report if you have one.