The problem: What the client needed
In the beginning, the problem was a simple accounting need: the president of the diversified energy services company called late on a Friday night – shortly after his controller suddenly resigned – requesting help in determining the company’s financial status.

Through our work in addressing this problem, we uncovered the underlying client need: that the company needed help in sorting out its long-term vision. Each decision made by the company for a viable future quickly presented them with more technical challenges, and the company needed a guide for the road ahead.

The solution: What we did
We were able to quickly put cash management and financial reporting practices in place to meet the immediate need. In doing so, we found a company with five different business lines spread across three countries, confused about its mission, and hampered by its financial structure. The company, which had launched 10 years earlier as a consulting firm to help customers design and evaluate clean energy projects, had grown into a conglomeration of businesses that focused on energy efficiency projects, fund management of clean energy projects in developing countries, and brokerage and consulting services for carbon credits created under the Kyoto protocol. We began to ask questions, starting with, "Where do you want to be in five years?"

We designed a discovery process to help management define the company's long-term destination and the road to that destination. Learning quickly that the organization required better clarity in ownership structure, we recommended, and helped implement, a corporate re-design that mirrored the company’s future plans. Helping the company understand the realistic capital requirements that fit into this future, we worked with the executives to translate their vision into a well-defined financial projection model. That model translated the expertise resident in the company into a comprehensive financial plan.

The results
The company is now on the right track. Management clearly has matured and excelled from that Friday night long ago. Development of a disciplined approach to cash management has helped run its day-to-day business effectively while adding clarity to its vision. The detailed, comprehensive business plan developed has consolidated its businesses into two clearly defined areas and given management the vision, means, and confidence to reach its five-year goal.

The financial model created is the core of the company's financial plan – and a tool that the firm actively uses to determine its future capital requirements. With this model, Econergy raised $97 million in net proceeds on the AIM market, operated and regulated by the London Stock Exchange. Trinity’s efforts with the company have made us a trusted advisor and source for almost all key planning issues.


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