How a $14M storage and logistics company gained clear financial visibility across 3 business units.
Storage & Logistics
Australia
May 2025 - Present
30 staff
Key operational savings and margin visibility achieved.
annual saving on financial forecasting software
turnover across 3 distinct business units
Weighted avg gross profit margin with visibility by business unit - ranging from 25% to 48%.
shortlisted to replace legacy systems
The initial scenario and financial hurdles at engagement in May 2025.
At engagement in May 2025, the business was generating ~$14M turnover with 30 staff across 3 business units: Industrial Storage & Office Solutions, Agricultural Building Construction and Public Space Infrastructure.
The company was using MYOB Exo, which was clunky and server-based. The finance manager was producing P&L reports in Excel that did not reconcile. Reports took days to produce and could not be relied upon. Business coaches had no usable financial data, with only total company profit visible. There was no departmental gross margin visibility, and labour was not split between direct and indirect.
Breakdown of core operational and system inefficiencies.
Clunky Legacy Infrastructure: MYOB Exo’s server-based setup hindered reporting, forcing manual Excel exports that failed to reconcile.
Unallocated Labour Costs: Labour, salary, wages, and on-costs (super, WorkCover, payroll tax, leave provisions) were unmapped, obscuring actual cost of sales.
Inventory & Cost Mapping Gaps: Stock categories and GL mapping were unoptimised across a multi-warehouse site holding ~$2M in stock.
Key interventions implemented to restructure financial systems and visibility.
Reallocated salary, wages, and on-costs (super, WorkCover, payroll tax, leave provisions) into direct vs. indirect labour.
Optimised stock categories and GL mapping across multi-warehouse site (~$2M stock).
Replaced existing 3-way forecasting software ($30K/year) with cheaper more robust software ($2K/year), securing a $28K annual saving.
Built business model across 3 departments and set up actuals-to-budget variance reporting.
Restated one prior financial year for like-for-like comparisons.
Introduced monthly finance meetings with minutes, actions, and accountability.
Mapped business processes and shortlisted 3 ERPs (Odoo, MYOB Acumatica, Wiise), starting discovery calls and assembling implementation team.
Strategic results, margin discoveries, and operational targets established.
Full Departmental GP Visibility: Industrial Storage & Office Solutions 42%, Public Space Infrastructure 48%, Agricultural Building Construction 25% (blended 32%).
Margin Recovery: Identified and reversed a 5% Agricultural Building Construction discount that dropped margins in this department to 20%.
Strategic Alignment: External business coaches now have reliable data for goal-setting and dividend policy.
Target Clarity: Sales team has clear break-even targets by department and minimum 10% net profit targets.
What Our Clients Say Real results from real business owners across Australia.
What Our Clients Say Real results from real business owners across Australia.
