Dear colleagues,
At Group level, the Finance department covers a wide range of activities from budgeting and forecasting, to tax planning, cash flow management, reporting, etc. Next to these usual must-do’s, the Finance department also contributes to the management and improvement of the operations.
Looking forward, the Finance department will operate in a revised way in order to strengthen its capabilities to assist country and project directors in Europe and International in the starting & running of their businesses.
There where the Finance department used to work in teams split by geography, the department will now be organized across the project life cycle, from business development to contract execution, and closing.
Putting project management at the core of the Finance organisation will allow for better anticipation and improved proactivity between the colleagues at Finance and the colleagues in the Business Units Europe and International.
Concretely this new work organization for Europe & International can be summarized as follows:
Pre-project phase
- Under the lead of Gijs Olbrechts, who will as from now report to Jan Gesquière.
- Main tasks:
> Business Development (credit assessment partners & clients; export
credit…)
> Coordination of tender process and start-up phase of a project (cash flow
preparation, foreign exchange risk, country rating analysis, tax
management, bonds management and hedging strategy ). Together with the
existing departments (treasury, tax, …)
> Project Handover (tender handover, prepare initial cash flow & funding,
company set-up, JV agreement, bank accounts, guarantees & bonds…)
Project phase
- Under the lead of Stephane Glorieux, who keeps reporting to Jan Gesquière.
- Main tasks:
> Project Execution (accounts, cost control, vendors-suppliers, cash flow,
transport & customs, payroll, taxes…)
> Special Projects (claims, payment restructurings…) - Direct reports:
> Alain Lobet + the DAFs of the various countries in Europe & International
> Koenraad Keppens : head of accounting and cost controlling BE. This
department operates since Sept. 2019 as an integrated organisation for
BESIX Belgium
Post-project phase
- Lead: ad hoc, in function of concerned project or branch.
- Main tasks:
> Phase out of a project (remaining tax declarations, local authority
obligations, …)
> Closing of Project (closing of branch or JV, lessons learned to implement in
Tender…)
This transversal way of working, centred around our projects, is a practical application of the value of Co-Creation. From business development to contract execution and closing, the multi-skilled Finance teams will actively support their colleagues of the Business Units from an early stage on. Together, they will share the responsibility to shape our projects in the right way, from the first time right.
With this organization Finance wants to become a fully-fledged business partner.
Start will be after closing of the 2019 financial account (mid-February)
Looking forward, this new work organisation will create value and contribute to profit-building for our company.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to Gijs, Stéphane or myself for more explanations.
Best regards,
Jan Gesquière
Chief Finance Officer
* Europe + International is rest of the world except Australia & Middle East