This case has been anonymised; no specific company or individual is identified.
Why a system was needed
Training businesses share several traits: multiple revenue streams (online courses, classroom programmes, corporate sessions), frequent refunds, complex revenue splits with individual instructors and partners, and a cost base dominated by people. Once volume grows, handling it all by experience produces inconsistencies.
Five stages
- Due diligence: map the current state — revenue recognition, refund policy, contract templates, revenue splits, invoicing and cost structure;
- Checklist: grade findings into “fix now / fix by a deadline / optimise over time”, each with an owner and a date;
- Policies: build executable written processes around six areas — revenue, refunds, procurement, reimbursement, funds and archives — rather than copying a template;
- Coaching: embed the policies in daily actions — who does what at which step, what evidence is retained, who reviews it;
- Delivery: hand over the compliance report and supporting documents, and agree a review cadence.
What we learned
- Settle conventions before tools: systems are the last step, not the first;
- A policy only matters if it can actually be followed — anything over-complicated gets bypassed;
- Writing down who is accountable matters more than writing down what is ideal.
Outcome
With the system in place, revenue recognition and refund handling follow consistent rules, cross-department reconciliation takes noticeably less time, legacy items are remediated month by month, and the company can credibly explain its financial position to partners and investors.