As a company active since 1908, Foeth has known its fair share of changes in the organisational structure. While change isn't always easy, a skilled and professional approach will ease the process. What kind of dynamic challenges can a new colleague expect?

Remco van Aken, Financial Controller at Foeth since June 2021 tells about his experiences working with the financial processes of an internationally active company.

Entry to Foeth

Remco's previous employer sold his company, which meant he would have extra travel time to Leiden, which he didn't want at the time. Because of Corona time and personal circumstances, it took a while for him to find a new job. Remco came through a specific agency, first applying at another company in a different position that was almost finalised, but the potential employer pulled out due to internal problems. They did not dare to take the step because of disruptions within the company. Fortunately, the recruiter who mediated for Remco found the vacancy at Foeth, after which he immediately had an interview with Rik, then the CFO. "There was an immediate click between us, mainly because of our shared experience and knowledge of the AFAS system", says Remco. He then had a meeting with CEO Erik and Meike, the HR officer at the time, and the rest is history.

Early challenges

"When I started at Foeth, there were no processes, no structure." He explains that many of his new colleagues tended to work outside the AFAS system, which created different lists with a high risk of errors, especially if those lists had to be maintained manually. The AFAS system should be the basis for data, according to Remco. In the beginning, he automated many basic things, such as leave requests and sick reports via the AFAS app.

"In the beginning, my challenge was to train colleagues so that I could eventually monitor the figures properly and see developments towards the future." Stock valuation has always been a challenging project for him because of the prepayment of sold goods and when buying used process machines. Remco has now organised this by having the costs and income come into a suspense account and administer this in AFAS. This way, the rules in AFAS can be followed and Foeth has insight into what is yet to come in and go out. "Limiting exceptions was, and still is, important in finance and order administration, because solving them takes a lot of time instead of coming up with a specific structure."

Multi-tasking and dynamism is a plus for me

From 2022,Foeth has been doing payroll in-house and through the AFAS app, claims processing was simplified. A new reporting model was created in collaboration with the CFO.

Remco says that a long-term financial challenge is the automation of purchase invoices. Currently, these are still booked and paid manually. Especially with specific machines, it is important to pay immediately. To automate this, the workflow has to be set up differently, for example by automatically booking these purchase invoices or the purchase order. Verification is then done during booking by Finance. The purchase order serves as a vestibule for the purchase invoices, allowing us to make faster weekly automatic payments.

"Foeth as an organization is a trading company pure and simple. Like car salesmen, our business is all about commerce." says Remco. "We experience fast-paced dynamics and are always keen on commerce. From Finance we give headwinds because not everything is just possible; you have to be strong in your shoes." Remco explains further that previously, there were many exceptions, but those have been reduced to one pattern, which sometimes meets resistance. Yet this gives Foeth room to act more appropriately and do business faster. This contributes to Foeth's growth into the future. Remco destribed the culture at Foeth as unique. Colleagues who have been working at Foeth for a long time mainly come from the Barneveld area, while newcomers often come from different regions. As a relatively small company, colleagues often have more tasks than what their job profile indicates. "Commercialism is key and this is the dynamic I am comfortable with. I appreciate the sales pressure and the opportunities there are, for example, to optimize AFAS." There is no difficulty, precisely because accurate data helps the organization further in its commercial strategy.

Foeth is an international company, with colleagues and customers from abroad in sales and purchasing. This appeals to Remco, as it also makes the work never the same. "The constant influx of new customers and suppliers, combined with economic developments, ensures that the dynamics are always changing."