Beyond Design: How a Luxury Interior Firm Gained Crystal-Clear Financial Vision
Client Overview
The Challenge
While the company’s creative portfolio continued to impress, leadership struggled with visibility into the numbers that mattered most. Day-to-day financial management had become a burden, revenue tracking was inconsistent, cash flow insights were delayed, and generating timely financial reports for planning and analysis felt like reinventing the wheel each month. The absence of a qualified accountant meant:
- Expense tracking and budgeting lacked structure
- Compliance with Nigeria’s tax and regulatory laws was handled reactively
- Leadership was constantly pulled into administrative tasks, diverting focus from creative and strategic work With no financial expert in-house, they were navigating blind.
And in a competitive industry where precision and timing matter, this created unnecessary risk.
Our Solution
Rather than plugging the gap with a generic hire, aphr approached this challenge with surgical precision.
We partnered with leadership to define not just the technical requirements for the accountant role, but the strategic and cultural fit needed for long-term impact. Our recruitment process was focused, data-driven, and tailored to deliver a finance professional who could thrive within the high-performance, design-led environment.
We managed the full cycle recruitment:
- Sourcing candidates with deep knowledge in financial reporting, planning, budgeting, and compliance
- Screening for alignment with the firm’s creative culture and pace
- Supporting onboarding to ensure seamless integration into daily operations
This wasn’t just about hiring. It was about embedding financial clarity directly into the business’s foundation. Our comprehensive recruitment process focused on identifying, hiring, and onboarding a professional adept at managing financial reporting and planning, budgeting and internal controls, and regulatory compliance.
The Results
The change was transformative. With a qualified accountant now embedded in the team, leadership gained immediate clarity into the firm’s financial performance. Decision-making became faster and more informed. Wasteful expenditures were identified and cut. In just one quarter, the firm reduced unnecessary costs by 18% and improved internal reporting timelines by 40%.
Compliance concerns faded into the background. Tax submissions and regulatory requirements were now handled proactively, reducing the risk of penalties or audits. Most importantly, the founders and creative leads could refocus on what they did best: delivering exceptional design experiences, without being dragged into daily financial firefighting.
By bringing in the right financial expertise, this firm unlocked the next level of its growth. Their operations became more structured, their decisions more data-driven, and their team more empowered.
Why aphr
The firm chose aphr because we don’t just recruit, we strategically align talent with business outcomes. Our ability to vet specialized finance professionals using data, not guesswork, meant the client got more than an accountant. They got a finance partner who brought clarity, control, and confidence into the business.