The issue
The client, a national distributor of an Asian Manufacturer, faced a number of challenges regarding an operating report that the client provided to its dealership network. The report --- a consolidation of performance data contributed by the individual dealerships --- was not viewed as valuable by dealership management, nor the OEM field organization. Indeed, there was little information contained in this report that could assist the dealerships in improving the profitability of their operations.
Our approach
PricewaterhouseCoopers was engaged to redesign the client’s operating report and revise the accounting manual that would support the new report and chart of accounts. In order to improve the data provided and map it into a legible format, it was necessary to review and refine the accounting rules applied from the chart of accounts. Having defined rules and a consistent process across the dealer network led to a rapid improvement in the quality of data contributed to the report, which, in turn, added credibility to the entire reporting process. PricewaterhouseCoopers also developed training content and conversion methods to facilitate the switch to the new reporting format. Doing so not only helped explain changes to the accounting manual, but also demonstrated the value of conforming to the revised reporting process. Because of the need to convert so many dealerships quickly and concurrently, training was delivered through a proprietary interactive web-based learning application.
The outcome
Over a two week period, the PricewaterhouseCoopers team was able to convert 300 dealerships to the new reporting format. Use of interactive, web-based training methods resulted in significant cost savings relative to traditional onsite training methods. The client is currently deploying an on-line version of the report in order to facilitate comparative performance assessments across dealerships. Moreover, the new operating report is highly rated by both dealerships and client management.
