Trainers’ House helps people progress towards meaningful goals. The company builds reputation, creates opportunities and generates methods for success.
“We help people progress. That’s our mission,” says Saku Keskitalo, CFO of Trainers’ House. Keskitalo is also in charge of the operations of the subsidiary Ignis Oy.
The core of the operations is also reflected in the internal career development of Trainers’ House’s personnel. The company’s Finance Manager Iiris Nummila started in a marketing role at Trainers’ House’s office in Spain. Then, a position of a financial expert became vacant at the headquarters to which Nummila was able to transfer. Since then, her responsibilities in various positions in financial administration have only increased, leading up to working in the management team of a subsidiary. As of now, Nummila is responsible for the day-to-day running of Trainers’ House’s financial administration and is the only person in the team who deals with financial affairs on a full-time basis – together with the people at BDO.
Trainers’ House became a client of BDO at the end of 2020 with only a one-month transfer period.
“We needed a new partner in financial administration because I made a mistake,” Keskitalo explains.
“The Finance Manager, who had been serving the company for a very long time, left and Iiris’s job description changed. At that point, we acquired a financial administration partner and made a mistake in selecting the partner. The matter went on for a painfully long time,” says Keskitalo, providing background.
When thorough financial administration is an integral part of a company’s operations – particularly in the case of a listed company – certain obligations must be taken into account.
“Trainers’ House had to find a new partner to replace the financial administration partner that had proved unsuitable.”
“We started exploring options for potential partners and, in the review, BDO proved to be the best,” Keskitalo says.
“Above all, we buy expertise. Let’s break this down. Precision: we don’t seek flawlessness, but a high level of accuracy. Special expertise: as a listed company, we need expertise in IFRS, for example. Trust plays a crucial role. We think that BDO’s team is part of our team; both sides do their part properly. We are proactive and make each other shine,” says Keskitalo, describing the co-operation.
Since the beginning, BDO has been very interested in Trainers’ House and has always been thoroughly prepared for meetings. This has increased trust and laid good groundwork for the co-operation from the very first meeting.
“For example, BDO brought IFRS experts already to the first meetings.”
While Trainers’ House is a listed company and thereby has a variety of obligations, it has a small financial team.
“When we were reviewing our options, many players, even large ones, lacked stock exchange expertise. BDO stood out favourably from the competition,” Nummila acclaims.
BDO takes care of Trainers’ House’s VAT issues, tax returns, financial statements, ESEF financial statements for listed companies and accounting, sales invoices excluded. Nummila takes care of all invoicing at Trainers’ House.
“We think that Trainers’ House has been an excellent partner and that the co-operation with them has been built smartly. With them, I get the feeling that we’re in the same boat,” describes Kajsa Backas-Heikkilä, Head of Business Services & Outsourcing at BDO.
BDO’s side of the team includes accountants, IFRS experts and experts in income taxes and VAT. The co-operation includes monthly meetings, but the interaction is close.
“I was last in touch with BDO today. I consider them as much my co-workers as the people in my company,” Nummela says.
“One great thing about the organisational culture of Trainers’ House is the thank-you culture. They thank each other for their work and highlight good things. Of course, they also provide us with suggestions for development and are capable of asking us for what they need. The thank-you culture also motivates the partner,” Backas-Heikkilä ponders.
“BDO’s exceptionally good customer service is reflected in their professional competence and promptness,” Nummila says.
“If we ask BDO for help, they respond to us quickly, and if there is something we don’t quite grasp, they help us understand it. And if the accountant responsible for our affairs at BDO doesn’t know something, they will find out. We are never left alone.”
“The day-to-day work runs very smoothly. What we have in common is that we like to make detailed plans in advance,” Keskitalo adds.
According to Trainers’ House, the focus of the co-operation with BDO lies in the future. Activities are not just limited to correcting mistakes.
“From both personal and business perspectives, time management is very important. From the point of view of the CFO, co-operation is ideal when the focus is on the future instead of the past. We anticipate: these kinds of standards are about to be introduced or changed.”
According to Keskitalo, the co-operation with BDO has freed him up to focus on business management and development.
Five years ago, CFO Saku Keskitalo set two goals for Trainers’ House: financial administration that is completely paperless and that does not rely too much on one person.
“Although financial statements are still in progress, I can say our financial administration is completely paperless. With BDO, we now have a team taking care of financial affairs and we don’t need to worry about the entire workload being on one individual’s shoulders,” says Keskitalo with satisfaction.
Trainers’ House’s co-operation with BDO is still in quite early stages, but the choice of partner has already proven to be the right one. Smooth co-operation has made everyday operations at Trainers’ House calmer, and the current state of the company’s financial administration is considered very satisfactory.
“We’ve experienced in the past how awful preparing financial statements can be. Now we’ve discovered that if it can be this easy, it can actually be quite fun,” Nummila says with a laugh.
“Saku has more time now and I have found peace of mind,” Nummila adds.
Trainers’ House’s mission is to help people progress towards meaningful goals. Trainers’ House builds reputation, creates opportunities and generates methods for success – both for clients and its own employees.
Trainers’ House was established in 1990. The company has 126 full-time equivalent employees and offices in Helsinki, Turku, Oulu and Torrevieja, Spain. Trainers’ House’s turnover for 2021 totalled EUR 10.3 million and its operating profit, which describes business profitability, was EUR 1.3 million (13% of turnover). The company’s equity ratio was 70%. The company has no net debt. Read more at https://www.trainershouse.fi/en/