In the context of a fast-growing company, Eurofins is looking for its Net Working Capital (NWC) Champions to join its finance team. Net Working Capital is one of the key financial metrics for the Group and must be improved with on-going and regular actions.
Under the leadership of the NSC Finance Director (FD), the NWC Champion will join the monthly National Business Lines Leaders Committee which will empower her/him to propose, support implementation and monitor all necessary actions to improve the NWC in the different Business Lines in the country.
Committed to NWC improvement in her/his perimeter, she/he will ensure that all best practices are shared and implemented across the different business lines, that the information on NWC, DSO/DPO/DIO, overdue, down payments and other NWC drivers are well, timely and systematically, communicated, analyzed and that systematic actions plans are built, reported, and executed.
Reporting to the NSC Finance Director, to ensure her/his objectives are met: she/he will:
- Define action plans with the business leaders to improve the overall cash conversion, participate in the National Business Lines Leaders Committees (NBLLC) to share results and progress and actions plans to improve the NWC on a monthly basis
- In particular, she/he will deploy best practices in the below areas:
- Trade Accounts Receivables:
- Ensure we are signing the right terms with the right clients in all our business lines:
- Flag any deviation from our standard GTS 30 days payment terms and propose adjustments as needed
- At the request of the National Business Leader and for significant contracts, participate in the proposal and negotiation of the best payment conditions with clients
- Set up the Credit Committees and related credit management guidelines per business line, negotiate prepayment for clients with weak credit ratings
- Ensure we are invoicing quickly:
- Analyze the level of unbilled and work in progress (WIP) revenue, flag any deviation vs Key Guidance Document on Credit Management
- Go through the invoicing process to ensure it is efficient, error proof and seamless leading to reduced unbilled and WIP levels,
- In case of long-term projects, ensure we are negotiating prepayment and/or milestones payments
- Ensure we have the right collection processes in place:
- Analyze current collection organization and processes in the different business lines in scope, flag any deviation vs Key Guidance Document on Credit Management
- Ensure the Group minimum guidelines in terms of dunning and collection are known and implemented, share good practices, propose improvement as needed
- Set clear objectives to significantly reduce overdues for each national business line
- Propose actions to the business leaders (such as withholding of analytical reports/goods or order bans/blacklist) in case of systematic late payments from clients and/or default (bankruptcy, bad credit rating etc.)
- Trade Accounts Payables:
- Monitor DPO evolution and improvements in close relation with the Purchasing organization and the Business leaders as needed, flag any deviation vs the Key Guidance Document on PTP
- Ensure we are signing right terms with the right suppliers: propose the best payment terms possible, ensure the policy is then systematically implemented
- Ensure we reduce to the strict minimum any prepayment to suppliers (including yearly payments, subscriptions etc.)
- Other Net Working Capital components:
- Monitor Inventory level and DIO, communicate proactively with business leaders showing the highest level and/or the biggest increases. Evaluate and propose, in relation with Purchasing Teams, alternative to large deliveries, securing procurement without additional inventories, etc...
- Employees related liabilities and other receivables and payables: monitor and forecast the evolutions of these drivers
- Participate in the budget and forecast processes for Net Working Capital by supporting the National Business Lines to set up ambitious targets for their teams,
- Ensure the selected KPIs supporting the actions plans are well known, reported, analyzed, and communicated to the right stakeholders in scope (DSO reports, DPO reports, overdue, aging reports etc.)
- Produce regular reports and proactively alert management on deviations. This includes:
- Weekly qualitative exchanges with Business leaders, Global treasury & Finance Director
- Direct contact with Top Management to alert about deviation/ lack of progress