Bernd Fischbach, new at BACHMANN's Accounting department, on his newly created position, visions for modern accounting and why his department is not only an internal service provider but also an internal customer.

Bernd, what is your position at BACHMANN?

I have been with BACHMANN since July 1 and hold the newly created position of Head of Accounting.

What is the basic idea behind this position?

The core idea is essentially to relieve the CFO of day-to-day operations and team leadership, to identify process optimizations within accounting, and to play a role in the upcoming new implementation of an ERP system. As this is a newly created position, we are all still "grooving" in the Accounting community and will soon define a clearer allocation of roles and responsibilities.

At a Glance: What was your career path like before BACHMANN?

Having held various positions in finance and accounting at companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector or in management and IT consulting, I bring a colorful bouquet of personal qualities, know-how and ideas to support BACHMANN on its way into the future. As a "man of numbers", the main focus of my activities was on the preparation of regular financial statements, later paired with management responsibility of accounting teams. However, as the process understanding behind the figures is always important to me, topics such as identifying potential for improvement, digitalization or system conversions are also important to me.

And what brought you here?

One reason, of course, is that the job description matched my own expectations and ideas from a technical point of view. But I was also looking for an employer where I could make a difference and shape things and, above all, be seen as a person. BACHMANN gave me the feeling that I was in the right place in this respect, from the first contact, through the interviews, to the contract offer. A place where values, life quality and hybrid work are not just buzzwords in a glossy brochure, but are actually lived. Today, I think: Yes, I've been told the truth in this regard.

What is your vision for your area in 2022?

At the beginning, my goal is to develop a common vision of our path with the accounting community. This seems to me to be a basis for us to get up every morning and tackle our daily tasks with passion and motivation.

Currently, I see myself on a mission to shape the Accounting eco-system within the framework of New Level Enterprise not as a pure support function, but rather to achieve stronger networking within the BACHMANN Group. Accounting is a competent service provider, but also a kind of customer within the organization. The customer concept may come as a surprise to some. However, all activities within the organization eventually end up in Accounting in terms of figures. To ensure that these figures are valid and verifiable according to internal rules and, above all, legal requirements, it is elementary for me that Accounting gets involved at an early stage. This is particularly important during process changes. All parts of the system should work together harmoniously!