Challenge
Across five trading entities the group was running on Xero and NetSuite with a thin in-house finance team, and every departure triggered a recruiter fee of 15% to 20% of salary plus months of disruption. Month-end close was routinely slipping past two weeks, AP and reconciliations were backing up, and the FD had no reliable FP&A capacity to support board reporting. The local market for qualified management accountants was tight and getting pricier, and temp cover never stayed long enough to learn the group's structure. Leadership wanted predictable cost and continuity, not a permanent recruitment treadmill.
OSCABE approach
OSCABE assembled a Managed Remote Team of three qualified accountants and an FP&A analyst, drawn from our India finance pool with one Middle East-based reviewer in Dubai for overlap with both UK and group time zones. All four were 5-stage vetted, including practical Xero and NetSuite assessments and a technical accounting screen, and ran under one UK contract with transparent fees and GDPR-compliant handling of financial data. The pod took over AP, AR, bank reconciliations, month-end close and FP&A support, sitting on a 4 to 6 hour daily overlap so the UK FD had live cover during the working day. OSCABE managed the team day to day so the FD did not inherit an offshore management burden.
Outcome
Month-end close tightened from over two weeks to roughly two to three working days across the group, and the FD finally had standing FP&A capacity for board packs and cash-flow forecasting. Total finance run-cost came down by around 45% once recruiter fees and the cost of churn were stripped out, and continuity stopped being a quarterly fire drill. The pod has held stable with no turnover in its first year and has since absorbed a sixth entity from a bolt-on acquisition. The group now treats the team as its core finance function rather than a stopgap.
Inside the engagement
The full evidence: team, timeline, stack, vetting, security, costs and before/after metrics.
The problem
The client, a Manchester-based multi-entity services group, ran five trading entities on Xero and NetSuite with a thin in-house finance team. Every departure triggered a recruiter fee of 15 to 20 per cent of salary plus months of disruption, month-end close routinely slipped past two weeks, AP and reconciliations backed up, and the Finance Director had no reliable FP&A capacity for board reporting. The local market for qualified management accountants was tight and pricey, and temp cover never stayed long enough to learn the group structure. Leadership wanted predictable cost and continuity, not a permanent recruitment treadmill.
Team composition
OSCABE assembled a four-person managed finance pod, sized to run a five-entity close and support the board:
- 1 senior management accountant (10 yrs, ACCA, owned month-end close across entities)
- 1 accountant (7 yrs, Xero specialist, AR and reconciliations)
- 1 accountant (6 yrs, NetSuite specialist, AP and intercompany)
- 1 FP&A analyst (6 yrs, board packs, budgeting and cash-flow forecasting)
Three sat in the India finance pool with one Dubai-based reviewer for overlap across UK and group time zones, all on a 4 to 6 hour daily overlap with Manchester.
Timeline
The pod was fully embedded in seven weeks:
- Weeks 1 to 2: onboarding onto Xero and NetSuite, chart-of-accounts and entity-structure handover, access provisioning.
- Weeks 3 to 4: pod took over AP, AR and bank reconciliations; backlog cleared.
- Weeks 5 to 6: first managed month-end close run jointly with the FD, process documented.
- Week 7: FP&A reporting pack and rolling cash-flow forecast established; pod owning the cycle independently.
Tech stack
Xero and NetSuite as the ledgers across the five entities, with Dext for purchase-invoice capture, a Power BI and Excel FP&A layer for board reporting and forecasting, and bank feeds plus automated reconciliation rules. Approvals and intercompany journals ran through NetSuite workflow.
How OSCABE vetted the team
Every accountant cleared OSCABE's five-step vetting. An instant AI shortlist matched qualifications and software experience to the brief; a senior OSCABE finance specialist ran a technical interview with a live, practical Xero and NetSuite skills test plus a technical-accounting screen (accruals, prepayments, intercompany, VAT treatment); a communication assessment confirmed they could work directly with a UK FD and explain variances clearly; and background and reference checks validated history and prior multi-entity experience. Qualifications (ACCA / CIMA) were verified as part of reference checks.
What was delivered
Month-end close tightened from over two weeks to roughly two to three working days across the group. AP, AR and bank reconciliations moved from a backlog to current. The FD gained standing FP&A capacity, with a board pack and a rolling cash-flow forecast produced every cycle. The pod later absorbed a sixth entity from a bolt-on acquisition without adding headcount, and held with no turnover in its first year.
Client workflow and collaboration
The pod ran as the group's core finance function under the FD's direction. A daily overlap window gave the FD live cover during the working day; a weekly finance review covered close progress, exceptions and cash; and month-end ran to a shared close calendar with clear owners per task. The FD approved journals and sign-offs while the pod carried the preparation.
Tools used
Xero and NetSuite; Dext for invoice capture; Power BI and Excel for FP&A; Slack and Microsoft Teams for daily comms; SharePoint for working papers; and a shared month-end close checklist tracking every entity and task.
Security and compliance model
The engagement ran under ISO 27001-aligned controls and UK GDPR, under one UK contract. The pod accessed Xero, NetSuite and banking portals through SSO with least-privilege, role-scoped permissions and no payment-release rights (the FD retained authorisation). Work happened on managed, encrypted devices. Financial and personal data crossing borders to India and the UAE was covered by the UK IDTA and a transfer risk assessment. Every team member signed an NDA, and all work product belonged to the client.
Cost comparison
| Item | Manchester in-house | OSCABE managed pod |
|---|---|---|
| Salaries plus on-costs (4 roles) | around GBP 230,000 | included |
| Recruiter fees and churn (annualised) | around GBP 35,000 | none |
| Annual finance run-cost | around GBP 265,000 | around GBP 146,000 |
| Net annual reduction | around -45% |
Before and after
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Month-end close | 2+ weeks | 2 to 3 working days |
| FP&A / board capacity | none | every cycle |
| Annual finance run-cost | around GBP 265,000 | around GBP 146,000 |
| Finance team turnover (year 1) | recurring | nil |
| Entities served | 5 | 6 |
What OSCABE managed vs what the client managed
OSCABE managed:
- Sourcing, five-step vetting, employment and payment of the four-person pod.
- Day-to-day management, continuity and the overlap with Manchester.
- Managed devices, access controls and the compliance baseline.
The client managed:
- The close calendar, accounting policy and final sign-off.
- Payment authorisation and bank releases (retained by the FD).
- Board reporting decisions and the audit relationship.
Why remote worked
Multi-entity accounting is process-driven and documentation-heavy, which suits a managed remote pod. A shared close calendar, a daily live overlap with the FD and least-privilege access (with no payment-release rights) gave the group faster, more reliable closes than a churning local team ever did. Because OSCABE managed the pod day to day, the FD got the output and continuity without inheriting an offshore management burden, and one UK contract kept cost and accountability predictable.
“We were spending a fortune on recruiters just to stand still. Now we close month-end in a couple of days, we have proper FP&A for the board, and our finance costs are down by nearly half. The team has not changed in a year, which is the real win.”