USD 1.6 million secured by fuel distributor after focusing on the essentials

A fuel distributor was facing similar symptoms to many growing organizations: an increasingly important Administration and Finance department, but with legacy processes, vague roles, and policies that were no longer aligned with actual operations.

There was effort, but a lack of focus. There were controls, but not necessarily where the business was at stake. There was data, but no structure to convert it into decisions.

The question was simple: “What if we redesign this system so that it stops holding us back and starts enabling us?”

The diagnosis

At Summa, we started with a detailed picture: structure, policies, procedures, systems, and workflows. What we found was not disorder, but poorly organized complexity: duplicated processes, controls that responded to risks that no longer existed, underutilized systems, and decisions that continued to depend on personal spreadsheets.

Beyond that, we detected something deeper: the Administration and Finance department was not designed to capture value. It operated well, but without room to contribute in terms of efficiency or active financial control.

The redesign

We worked on three levels:

• Simplifying what did not add value: We adjusted policies, eliminated redundant steps, and refocused on key processes

• Formalizing what is important: We defined new standards, reinforced real control points, and designed systemic improvements in flows and traceability

• Connecting with the business: We helped the area stop “reporting backwards” and start anticipating through proactive financial control

None of the above was cosmetic. Each initiative was designed with logic and with the following questions in mind: “How much is this worth to the business?,” “How much does it free up in terms of time, cost, or decision-making capacity?”

The result

In the first year, the company captured USD 1.6 million in concrete improvements, not through superficial cost adjustments, but by restructuring a key area with criteria of efficiency, control, and strategic alignment.

Today, the Administration and Finance department is not a back office but a unit that provides visibility, anticipates deviations, and actively participates in decisions that drive business profitability.

What we learned

Often, it is not about innovating: it is about correcting with focus what has become distorted over time. Cross-functional areas can generate as much value as commercial or operational areas but, to do so, they need design, rigour, and governance.

Is your administration and finance department designed to capture value or just to fulfill functions? The difference lies in the design.

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