DoorDash, a publicly listed U.S. technology company, acquired the Finnish technology company Wolt a couple of years ago. However, the collaboration with NIS started earlier, when Wolt was looking for a partner to support its growth. To prepare for the acquisition, it was necessary to carry out IFRS and US GAAP conversions and to bring the monthly reporting process to the level of a U.S. publicly listed company. With the new growth phase, Wolt's reporting requirements have increased and the level of documentation is in many respects stricter than the requirements of Finnish publicly listed companies.
About three years ago, Wolt decided to use an interim finance resource, as rapid growth also means new situations and temporary resource shortages. This allowed Wolt to push ahead with its own development, while enabling its finance organization to keep up with the growth pace and expand its financial management expertise.
“NIS seemed to be the quickest and most efficient route to get helping hands into our rapidly growing organization. The NIS team has not only been able to understand our needs from a few bullet points, but they have also been able to respond to them quickly”, says Raisa Kinnunen, VP, Shared Services and A&R at Wolt.
The finance organization grew rapidly from a team of around 20 to an organization of 110 people
Wolt currently operates in 27 countries and its finance organization has grown fivefold in recent years. This growth and international expansion are reflected in all aspects of the business, with most of the Wolt teams being global. The changes brought by growth directly impacted the finance organization in the form of new projects, processes, and controls. Indeed, NIS consultants have worked at Wolt in various interim roles, such as Project Manager, Senior Manager of Group Accounting, Group Financial Controller, and Payroll Controller.
Anne Evinsalo, Financial Consultant at NIS, has taken global projects and system implementations forward for both the entire Wolt organization and the finance organization. Jutta Lehtinen, another NIS consultant, initially started in the Internal Controls team and then moved to the role of Country Controller.
"I would say that the main benefits of interim consultants have come through projects. The implementation of the BlackLine financial closing solution is a good example. The project involved NIS's own project team working together with Wolt's internal team,” says Kinnunen, highlighting the importance of collaboration.
Evinsalo, who was the Process Lead in the BlackLine project, is very enthusiastic about the project, as the change has increased visibility of financial figures, made it easier to follow timetables, and improved efficiency through system integrations.
"The BlackLine system was rolled out in all countries and companies. The project was very extensive, as it was not just a matter of implementing a new system, but at the same time harmonizing the monthly reporting processes across Wolt’s global locations and taking the new SOX control compliance requirements into account”, Evinsalo explains.
Development of Wolt’s control environment was a major cultural change
Joining forces with DoorDash made it necessary to introduce SOX controls. SOX triggered a kind of domino effect, and since then many new controls have been introduced and documentation around existing controls has increased.
“This has been a huge cultural change and has required a lot of adaptation. I don't think there’s another company in Finland that has had to meet such strict control requirements during a period of strong growth. It has been great to see how the teams and the company have come together and been able to adapt to the changes. At the same time, a relaxed and inspiring atmosphere has been maintained”, says Lehtinen.
Wolt is a Helsinki-based technology company that makes it incredibly easy to discover and get the best restaurants, grocery stores and other local shops delivered to you. To enable this, Wolt develops a wide range of technologies from local logistics to retail software and financial solutions, as well as operates its own grocery stores under the brand Wolt Market.
Wolt's mission is to make cities better by empowering and growing local communities. Wolt was founded in 2014 and joined forces with DoorDash in 2022. DoorDash operates in 31 countries today, 27 of which are with the Wolt product and brand.
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