Context

A PE-backed specialty manufacturer with approximately $120M in revenue had missed plan for three consecutive quarters. The senior lender had moved the credit to closer monitoring. The sponsor was preparing for a board cycle and a covenant test in the same window.

The reporting problem was not the size of the variance. It was that no one — sponsor, lender, board, or sitting management — could separate what was controllable from what was structural. The monthly variance package showed a single aggregate line: plan vs. actual. Volume, price, mix, margin compression, SG&A timing, one-time items, and FX were collapsed into one number. Recovery actions could not be designed, prioritized, or tracked because the leakage had not been isolated.

Sitting management was not the problem. The CFO was experienced and the finance team was capable. The problem was that the existing reporting architecture had been built for a stable plan period and could not carry the company through a stressed one.

Role

Senior finance operating lead, in-seat alongside the sitting CFO and finance team. Reporting into the sponsor’s deal partner and operating partner, with parallel coordination into the board, the senior lender, and the audit firm. The brief was explicit: rebuild the financial bridge, restore reporting credibility, prepare the company for a refinancing window, and leave a finance operating infrastructure that the team could run after handoff.

Work Performed

  • EBITDA bridge. Decomposed the cumulative miss into seven discrete components: volume, price realization, customer and product mix, gross margin (rate vs. cost), SG&A, one-time items, and FX. Re-baselined the bridge monthly going forward.
  • 13-week cash forecast. Stood up a weekly liquidity instrument with named drivers, AR aging discipline, AP timing, capex pacing, and a covenant compliance walkforward.
  • Close calendar compression. Reduced the monthly close from approximately 12 business days to approximately 6, enabling a weekly operating review rhythm and faster sponsor visibility.
  • Lender package. Built the materials supporting the refinancing: covenant compliance walkforward, revised forecast, sensitivity scenarios, EBITDA add-back support, and management commentary on root cause.
  • Initiative tracker. Constructed a recovery action register tying each initiative to a quantified EBITDA contribution, a named owner, a milestone schedule, and a weekly status review.
  • Working capital release plan. Targeted AR aging discipline, inventory days reduction by SKU class, and supplier terms renegotiation. Released cash in the quarter ahead of the covenant test.
  • Refinancing support. Supported the senior lender process from term sheet through close: data room construction, lender Q&A, sensitivities discussion, and covenant package negotiation.

Outcome

  • $39M cumulative EBITDA recovery against the prior trajectory across the remaining hold period.
  • Refinanced senior facility on favorable terms relative to the base case, including improved covenant headroom.
  • Reporting credibility re-established. The sponsor and senior lender both re-accepted management’s forecasts after the second cycle of revised reporting.
  • Close cycle compression (12 → 6 business days), enabling weekly operating reviews and a tighter sponsor cadence.
  • Working capital release contributing to the liquidity buffer ahead of the covenant test.
  • Finance operating infrastructure — bridge, cash forecast, KPI package, and review cadence — left in place for the sitting team to continue running after handoff.