Portrait of Ludovic Lochon

Ludovic Lochon

Interim Finance Executive

Interim CFO and Head of Accounting. I step in on restructurings, LBOs, cash and working capital programmes and ERP migrations, in France and internationally. In corporate finance since 1992, in interim management since 2017.

Areas of expertise

Restructuring and turnaround
Transformation, turnaround, design and documentation of finance processes.
LBO and debt
Covenant monitoring, senior debt management, refinancing.
Acquisitions and subsidiaries
Acquisitions, post-merger integration, management of subsidiaries in France and abroad.
Cash and working capital
Working capital optimisation, cash management, treasury forecasting, cash pooling, factoring.
Closing, reporting, consolidation
Faster closing, budgeting, margin analysis, international multi-entity consolidation, IFRS.
Change management
Shared service centres, ERP roll-outs (including SAP S/4HANA), process and flow mapping.
Team leadership
Cross-functional teams: accounting, controlling, HR, procurement, IT, legal.

Experience

Interim assignments 2017 – 2025

  1. May 2025 – Dec 2025 Country CFO Mid-sized industrial group · Assignment abroad
    • Two entities: led the accounting, treasury and controlling teams
    • Cash, free cash flow and working capital monitoring
    • Reporting
  2. Jan 2025 – Apr 2025 Head of Accounting, Shared Service Centre Mid-sized industrial group, LBO-backed · Paris
    • Led a restructuring: closure of a shared service centre in Paris and set-up of a new one in Brittany
    • Recruited and trained a new team covering general ledger, payables and receivables
    • Supervised the handover between the two teams
    • Business continuity, data quality, accounting closes and tax returns
    • Supported the team throughout the transition
  3. May 2024 – Dec 2024 Cash Transformation Director International telecoms group, LBO-backed · France, USA, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany
    • Implemented a group cash pool (6 countries, 15 entities) and a group factoring programme (7 countries, 12 entities): partner selection, specifications, contracts, roll-out, internal training
    • M&A, treasury management, hedging, debt management
    • Working capital improvement programme across 6 countries: P2P, O2C, inventory
    • 15-day and 13-week cash forecasts
    • Documented P2P, O2C, treasury and internal control processes
    • Monthly travel to the USA and Germany
  4. Dec 2023 – Apr 2024 Chief Financial Officer Mid-sized industrial group · Toulouse and Spain
    • Bridge assignment: supported the accounting teams (France and Spain), controlling, IT and procurement
    • Treasury management, monthly and year-end closes, tax returns
    • Member of the executive, management and steering committees
    • Supported an ERP change, documented processes, audited financial flows
  5. Sep 2023 – Dec 2023 Chief Financial Officer International industrial group · Dax
    • Post-migration SAP project (ECC6 to S/4HANA)
    • Fixed the mapping, aligned the local team, the Swiss group headquarters and the developers
    • Tax support, year-end close preparation
    • Managed 25 people and a shared service centre in India
  6. Apr 2023 – Sep 2023 Deputy CFO and Head of Treasury Mid-sized trading and retail company
    • Diagnosed flow issues after an ERP migration, corrective actions, clean-up of goods received not invoiced
    • Managed the factoring programme
    • Redesigned the inventory obsolescence and internal margin calculations
    • Optimised the cash management process
    • Led the accounting, controlling, credit, tax, internal control and procurement teams
  7. Nov 2022 – Apr 2023 Financial Controller and Workstream Leader International automotive group
    • Led monthly closes and IFRS reporting
    • Analysed customer rebates (several hundred million euros) and tracked subsidies
    • Inventory accounting and provisions for risks and charges
    • Finance, accounting and tax workstream leader on a core model redesign
  8. Apr 2022 – Oct 2022 Head of Accounting and IT Project Manager Mid-sized industrial group · Avignon
    • Mapped accounting processes in France and at the Lithuanian shared service centre, proposed a target organisation
    • Divestment of an industrial division, wrote operating procedures
    • Accounting management, IFRS close and reporting, led teams in France and at the shared service centre
    • Restructured the shared service centre, set up internal controls
  9. Jan 2022 – Apr 2022 Head of Accounting International industrial group · Limoges
    • Accounting for the head office and 3 production plants
    • Managed on-site accountants and controllers
    • Monthly and year-end IFRS closes, tax returns
    • Budgets and capex for the head office and plants
    • Documented closing procedures
  10. Jul 2021 – Dec 2021 Accounting Manager, Shared Service Centre Retail group · Lille
    • Led the record-to-report shared service centre: accounting team, monthly closes, reporting
    • Optimised and documented monthly closing procedures
    • Flow mapping, support during tax audits
  11. Mar 2021 – Jul 2021 Chief Financial Officer Industrial SME · Bordeaux
    • Set up industrial cost control for the launch of a new production line
    • Brought accounting in-house and built the accounting department
    • Working capital analysis, capex management, forecasting
    • Monthly group reporting
  12. Dec 2020 – Feb 2021 Head of Accounting Mid-sized industrial group, LBO-backed · Paris
    • Returned to a former client for the year-end close
    • Tested the roll-out of inventory management on the new ERP
    • Budget variance analysis, finalised French and international budgets
  13. Sep 2020 – Nov 2020 Chief Financial Officer Industrial SME · Toulouse
    • 13-week cash monitoring, set up a cash forecast
    • Capex management
    • Continuation plan
  14. Jun 2019 – Sep 2020 Head of Accounting Mid-sized industrial group, LBO-backed · Paris
    • Built the accounting department: recruitment, training, closing procedures, shorter closing times
    • Roll-out of the finance and procurement ERP
    • Senior debt and LBO covenants
    • Led acquisitions in India, the USA, Brazil and Sweden
    • Cash management and group cash pooling
  15. Jan 2019 – Jun 2019 Head of International Accounting Camaïeu International · Lille
  16. Dec 2018 – Jan 2019 Financial and Accounting Manager 3M · Oyonnax
  17. Sep 2017 – Sep 2018 CFO and HR Director E.Leclerc, retail · Bordeaux area
    • 3 operating companies and 5 property companies, €102M revenue, 160 employees, member of the management committee
    • Led the accounting, HR, controlling and IT teams (12 people), ERP management
    • Margins by department and category, treasury, working capital optimisation, budget analysis
    • Move to EDI
    • €85M real estate project: worked with the architects and contractors
    • Oversaw payroll, social security filings and accounting and tax production
    • Daily reporting to management, renegotiated the group's main debt
  18. Mar 2017 – Aug 2017 CFO, HR Director and Head of Controlling France Solaufil Mecafilter · Crépy-en-Valois
    • €31M revenue, 118 employees, subsidiary of the Misfat group (listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange), member of the management committee
    • Led the accounting, controlling, HR and IT teams (17 people)
    • Production cost and variance analysis, corrective actions
    • Co-managed logistics: delivery costs, routes, warehouses
    • Weekly reporting to French management and to the shareholder in Tunisia, IFRS and GAAP
    • Treasury and commitments, employment contracts, recruitment, payroll

Permanent positions 1992 – 2016

  1. Sep 2012 – Oct 2016 Chief Financial Officer BL Paris · Paris
    • CFO and member of the management committee, international environment
    • €16.2M revenue, 105 FTEs, 3 companies in France and Belgium, 2 property companies
    • Led the accounting, billing and HR teams
    • Financial statements, tax filings, accounting and tax consolidation, ERP implementation
    • Financing plans, treasury, cost accounting, cost of goods
    • Company valuations and acquisition studies
    • Main contact for statutory auditors and financial partners
  2. Feb 2000 – Jun 2012 Chief Financial Officer WR SAS · Paris
    • Financial oversight procedures, organisation of each department
    • Banking relationships, year-end close with the statutory auditors, IFRS and GAAP
    • Vehicle fleet leasing, half-yearly audit of the southern France subsidiary
    • Employee relations: staff representative meetings, recruitment and dismissals
    • Cost accounting, cost of goods, management KPIs and reporting
    • Led the IT project
  3. Dec 1995 – Jan 2000 Corporate Financial Controller Dial Fonderie · Montereau
    • Operational KPIs: margin, operating income, shrinkage, inventory turnover and levels
    • Monthly closes, reporting, ad hoc analysis for operations and general management
    • Audit and internal control: compliance with standards and procedures, anomaly detection
  4. Oct 1992 – Nov 1995 Senior Auditor Praxis Consultants · Bois-Colombes
    • Bookkeeping, bank reconciliations, financial statements, tax and social security filings
    • Sectors: manufacturing, contract catering, publishing, trade, non-profits, retail, cosmetics, IT, real estate

Education

DPECF, DECF, DESCF, French chartered accountancy programme · Paris, 1992 – 1994
Taxation, management control, corporate law, financial analysis.