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« Last post by Oldmanmatt on Today at 02:59:23 pm »
Ok.
Fuck it.
I’ve said similar to Pete, privately.
I’ve sniped, but I can make no direct accusation. There is simply no evidence and I have no knowledge of systems in place.
I don’t want to appear arrogant (or “financially incompetent”) either, but, as I said, Fuck it.
I simply do not understand how this situation arose.
I don’t understand, because I am a director of a large company.
I control a budget just under €100M. For context, I have spent €2.5M on paint alone over the last 12 months.
I don’t, of course, control this budget alone. There is a single accountant, under the group CFO. There is no fancy accounting package, they use Exel.
For any purchase under €10k, my signature, our Commercial Director’s signature and the CFO’s signature, are required on the offer/quote, LPO/PO, and all the invoices. We each keep a copy for our own files.
Above €10k, then the CEO replaces the CFO. That means, the CD and I physically take the documents to the CEO and justify the purchase, discuss alternative offers etc etc. This begins at the offer stage, long before any purchase order is generated.
Approximately every six months, the directors have to justify every employee’s position, to the CEO. We track hours and work orders, so it takes about an hour to put together the report. Nobody except the CEO has a secretary or assistant.
The group is internally audited twice per year.
We let the previous accountant go, for releasing a payment to a subcontractor that wasn’t due and without signatures. We discovered the missing money within seven days of the mistake, because we spend about an hour reviewing the previous week, on a Monday morning.
None of this aspect of my role is in the least bit arduous, tedious perhaps, but not actually hard. It is not at all within my educational background, I am an Engineer.
I can, however, “bring receipts” for everything we have done across all the various disciplines and departments I control with the CD at any time.
I am certain others posting here and on the other channel, also control substantial budgets and complicated work environments, alone or in part.
I want to point out as well, that we are a new company within the group, set up less than three years ago. We build large yachts (over 500 GRT) completely (steel/aluminium fabrication, design, fitting out, interior design etc etc), we are building a massive new shipyard (first shed will come on line within 3 months) and we are handling all aspects of the construction there too, no subcontractors. We have just completed the modules and fit out of a 900 room modular hotel for the Neom project (for four months I had 200 staff working in Saudi). There are just over 800 employees right now.
So, I just don’t understand how it can be hard to have kept track of the budget or how it is possible that that information is not retrievable. Or how the released info can be so woefully inadequate.
I of course bow to Tony’s superior financial nouse and freely admit my own incompetence.
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