I like the article. Tiway did start with a part-time bookkeeper / CFO from 2007 to end 2008. Once private equity financing received, they hired me as CFO. In 2009, as a start-up oil & gas EP, we simply had costs to contend with in our new drilling operations in Ukraine. Reporting was straightforward and time spent on resolving issues was minimal. Since we acquired a Turkish oil and gas firm in Oct 2009 with both producing and exploration assets, the Board (and Lime Rock) expect monthly accounts. This is too much burden for the bookkeeper and distracts from my ability to oversee the overall finance function and help to inform strategic and operational decisions of the CEO. The added complexity is the bookkeeper resides in Oslo, I live in Dubai and our operations are in Ukraine and Turkey. The Ukraine team lacks the English and IFRS (or Western GAAP) knowledge; the Turkish team lacks direct IFRS experience. Given time, training and hands-on mentoring, the Turkish team could easily assume most (if not all) of the monthly consolidated financial reporting preparation (now done by me). My dilemma is finding the right balance in the interim. So, this appears to be a text book case from my university and CA days.

Allen