Quest Resource Holding Corp (QRHC) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Quest Resource Holding Corporation first-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, David Mossberg, Investor Relations representative. Sir, the floor is yours.

大家好，歡迎參加 Quest Resource Holding Corporation 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我很高興將發言權交給主持人、投資者關係代表戴維·莫斯伯格 (David Mossberg)。先生，請您發言。

Thank you, Matthew, and thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements regarding future events and future performance of Quest. Use of words like anticipate, project, estimate, expect, intend, believe and other similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements.

謝謝你，馬修，也謝謝大家參加我們的電話會議。在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議可能包含有關未來事件和 Quest 未來表現的預測、估計和其他前瞻性陳述。使用預期、預期、估計、期望、打算、相信和其他類似的表達方式旨在識別這些前瞻性陳述。

Such forward-looking statements are based on Quest's current expectations, estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions and involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events or Quest results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, which are discussed in greater detail in Quest's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

此類前瞻性陳述是基於 Quest 目前的預期、估計、預測、信念和假設，涉及重大風險和不確定性。由於各種因素，實際事件或 Quest 結果可能與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果存在重大差異，Quest 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中對這些因素進行了更詳細的討論。

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements and to consult our SEC filings for additional risks and uncertainties. Quest's forward-looking statements are presented as of the date made, and we disclaim any duty to update such statements unless required by law to do so. In addition, in this call, we may make -- we may include industry and other market data and other statistical information as well as Quest's observations and views about industry conditions and developments.

請注意不要過度依賴此類聲明，並請查閱我們的美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件以了解更多風險和不確定性。Quest 的前瞻性聲明截至其作出之日為止均屬有效，除非法律要求，否則我們不承擔更新此類陳述的任何義務。此外，在本次電話會議中，我們可能會提供產業和其他市場數據以及其他統計資料以及 Quest 對產業狀況和發展的觀察和看法。

The data and information are based on Quest's estimates, independent publications, government publications and reports by market research firms and other sources. Although Quest believes these sources are reliable and that the data and other information are accurate, we caution that Quest has not independently verified the reliability of the sources or the accuracy of the information.

這些數據和資訊是基於 Quest 的估計、獨立出版物、政府出版物以及市場研究公司和其他來源的報告。儘管 Quest 認為這些來源可靠，數據和其他資訊準確，但我們提醒 Quest 尚未獨立驗證這些來源的可靠性或資訊的準確性。

Certain non-GAAP financial measures will be discussed during this call. These non-GAAP measures are used by the management to make strategic decisions, forecast future results and evaluate the company's current performance.

本次電話會議將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。管理階層使用這些非公認會計準則指標來制定策略決策、預測未來結果並評估公司的當前績效。

Management believes the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors understanding and assessment of the company's ongoing core operations and prospects for the future. Unless it is otherwise stated, it should be assumed that any financials discussed in this call will be on a non-GAAP basis. Full reconciliations of non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release.

管理層認為，這些非公認會計準則財務指標的呈現有助於投資者了解和評估公司正在進行的核心業務和未來前景。除非另有說明，否則應假定本次電話會議中討論的任何財務數據均以非 GAAP 為基礎。今天的收益報告包含了非 GAAP 財務指標與 GAAP 財務指標的完整對帳。

With all that said, I'll now turn the call over to Dan Friedberg, Chairman of the Board.

說了這麼多，現在我將把電話轉給董事會主席 Dan Friedberg。

Thank you, Dave. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us on today's call. Joining me today are Perry Moss, CEO; and Brett Johnston, our CFO. Before I turn it over to Brett and Perry, I want to emphasize our commitment as a Board and a management team to aggressively driving change and enhancing shareholder value. The results in the first quarter were as expected.

謝謝你，戴夫。下午好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有執行長佩里·莫斯 (Perry Moss) 和財務長布雷特·約翰斯頓 (Brett Johnston)。在將權力移交給布雷特和佩里之前，我想強調董事會和管理團隊致力於積極推動變革和提高股東價值。第一季業績符合預期。

As discussed on our last call, we decisively implemented a series of actions, which we will expect will drive both near- and long-term improvements. We completed the sale of the noncore part of the RWS business, which had been a source of inconsistent financial performance. In addition to the ongoing cost savings related to exiting this business, the sale generated $5 million in cash, which is used to reduce debt.

正如我們上次電話會議所討論的那樣，我們果斷實施了一系列行動，我們期望這些行動將推動近期和長期的改善。我們完成了 RWS 業務非核心部分的出售，該部分曾是財務表現不穩定的一個原因。除了退出該業務所帶來的持續成本節約之外，此次出售還產生了 500 萬美元的現金，可用於減少債務。

In total, our cost reduction actions have reduced SG&A costs by $3 million on an annualized basis and should be reflected in lower SG&A costs going forward. We added two highly experienced executives, promoting Perry Moss to CEO and adding Nick Ober as Senior Vice President of Operations, adding to an already strong operating team.

總體而言，我們的成本削減措施已使銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 年度化成本降低了 300 萬美元，這將在未來降低銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 成本中得到體現。我們增加了兩名經驗豐富的高管，提升佩里·莫斯 (Perry Moss) 為首席執行官，並增加尼克·奧伯 (Nick Ober) 為運營高級副總裁，進一步增強了原本就很強大的運營團隊。

We expect even further long-term savings and efficiency gains as we implement ongoing initiatives and drive process improvements. We are focused on generating cash, improving profitability, lowering debt and increasing operating efficiency. In addition, by working in partnership with our lenders, PNC and Monroe, we have amended the terms of our debt agreements.

隨著我們實施持續措施並推動流程改進，我們期望實現進一步的長期節約和效率提升。我們專注於創造現金、提高獲利能力、降低債務和提高營運效率。此外，透過與我們的貸款方 PNC 和 Monroe 合作，我們修改了債務協議的條款。

These changes will provide increased flexibility as we implement our operating improvements over the coming months. Finally, we wanted to welcome Bob Lipstein to the Board of Directors. We met Bob over a year ago. Bob is a seasoned financial executive, has an audit background with a big four firm and will be a good addition to the Board.

這些變化將為我們在未來幾個月實施營運改善提供更大的靈活性。最後，我們歡迎鮑伯·利普斯坦加入董事會。我們一年多前認識鮑伯。鮑伯是一位經驗豐富的財務主管，擁有四大會計師事務所的審計背景，將成為董事會的良好補充。

In summary, we have implemented a series of changes in our cost structure, in our management team, in our operating philosophy, all focused on improving operating performance. We are pleased with the progress of these changes and are beginning to see the initial operating benefits. In addition, I would like to stress that our value proposition continues to resonate with prospective and existing clients, and our pipeline of opportunities continues to grow.

總而言之，我們在成本結構、管理團隊、經營理念等方面實施了一系列變革，所有這些都是為了提高經營績效。我們對這些變化的進展感到滿意，並開始看到初步的營運效益。此外，我想強調的是，我們的價值主張繼續引起潛在和現有客戶的共鳴，我們的機會管道也不斷增長。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Brett and Perry. Brett?

說完這些，我將把電話轉給布雷特和佩里。布雷特？

Thanks, Dan, and good afternoon, everyone. During the first quarter, we continued to make progress with onboarding new clients. As expected, this progress was offset by lower volumes at a select number of larger clients in the industrial sector, the effect of past client attrition and temporarily elevated expenses, all of which were discussed on our last call.

謝謝，丹，大家下午好。在第一季度，我們在吸引新客戶方面繼續取得進展。正如預期的那樣，這一進展被工業領域部分較大客戶交易量的下降、過去客戶流失的影響以及暫時增加的費用所抵消，所有這些都在我們上次電話會議上進行了討論。

In addition, we have begun to see the positive impact of efficiency initiatives and the cost reduction in SG&A. Revenue for the first quarter was $68.4 million, which was a decrease of 6% from a year ago and down 2% sequentially from the fourth quarter.

此外，我們已經開始看到效率措施和銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 降低的正面影響。第一季營收為 6,840 萬美元，較去年同期下降 6%，較第四季季減 2%。

The decrease in revenue was attributable to lower volumes due to client attrition and lower volumes at a select number of larger clients, both factors that we have described on previous calls. Client attrition contributed approximately $7 million to the decline in revenue. This includes lost revenue from clients in the divested mall-related business, which contributed approximately half of the loss.

收入下降的原因是客戶流失導致交易量下降，以及部分較大客戶的交易量下降，這兩個因素我們都在先前的電話會議上描述過。客戶流失導致收入下降約 700 萬美元。其中包括剝離購物中心相關業務的客戶收入損失，約佔損失的一半。

Other revenue was down approximately $8 million, which was mostly related to lower volumes at certain large clients. As we said previously, the relationships with these clients continue to be strong, and there are opportunities to add services with them in the long term.

其他收入下降約 800 萬美元，主要與某些大客戶的交易量下降有關。正如我們之前所說，與這些客戶的關係持續保持強勁，並有機會在長期內為他們增加服務。

However, client volumes have decreased for now, which is likely to continue to affect volumes for at least the next several quarters. These revenue decreases were only partially offset by revenue from new clients. New clients secured during 2024 finished the first quarter at approximately 80% of their anticipated run rate.

然而，目前客戶數量已經減少，這可能會繼續影響至少未來幾季的業務量。這些收入的減少僅由新客戶的收入部分抵銷。2024 年獲得的新客戶在第一季的預期運作率約為 80%。

We expect last year's new clients to provide incremental growth in both revenue and gross profit dollars as we complete the rollout and optimize services this year. During the first quarter, gross profit dollars were $10.9 million, a 22% decrease from last year and a 2% increase sequentially from the fourth quarter.

隨著我們今年完成推廣並優化服務，我們預計去年的新客戶將帶來收入和毛利的增量成長。第一季度，毛利為 1,090 萬美元，較去年同期下降 22%，較第四季季增 2%。

As anticipated, the year-over-year decrease in gross profit dollars was primarily related to four factors: first, lower contribution due to customer attrition; second, lower volumes at a select number of larger clients; third, a shift in revenue mix; and fourth, the temporary increase in cost of services.

如預期的那樣，毛利年減主要與四個因素有關：第一，由於客戶流失導致貢獻降低；第二，部分較大客戶的交易量下降；第三，收入結構的變化；第四，服務成本的暫時增加。

Regarding the mix shift, as we discussed on previous calls, we have less revenue from more mature client relationships where the margin profile has been optimized, and it was replaced by revenue from new clients and expanding engagements, where it typically takes several quarters to optimize the margin profile.

關於組合轉變，正如我們在之前的電話會議上討論的那樣，來自更成熟的客戶關係的收入減少了，這些客戶的利潤率狀況已經得到優化，取而代之的是來自新客戶和不斷擴大的業務的收入，而這些收入通常需要幾個季度才能優化利潤率狀況。

Regarding higher-than-anticipated cost of services, as we also discussed previously, we experienced a temporary increase in costs associated with customer onboarding and the implementation of our vendor management platform. With these efforts complete, we do not expect temporary increases in cost of service to continue going forward. We expect sequential improvements in gross profit dollars beginning in the second quarter as we benefit from efficiency initiatives and growth.

關於高於預期的服務成本，正如我們之前所討論的，我們經歷了與客戶入職和供應商管理平台實施相關的成本暫時增加。隨著這些努力的完成，我們預計服務成本不會繼續暫時上漲。由於我們受益於效率措施和成長，我們預計從第二季開始毛利將持續提高。

Moving on to SG&A, which was $11.4 million during the first quarter, an increase of $1.6 million versus last year and a $1.3 million increase sequentially from the fourth quarter. The sequential increase is primarily related to separation costs and the resumption of bonus accruals. We expect SG&A costs to decrease sequentially in the second quarter as we benefit from increased efficiencies and lower costs.

再來看看銷售、一般及行政費用，第一季為 1,140 萬美元，比去年同期增加 160 萬美元，比第四季環比增加 130 萬美元。環比成長主要與離職費用和恢復獎金提列有關。由於效率提高和成本降低，我們預計第二季銷售、一般及行政費用將季減。

Beginning in the second half of the year, we expect SG&A to be approximately $9.5 million per quarter. Before I move on, we had a couple of noncash charges during the first quarter. The first was a $4.4 million loss related to the sale of the noncore portion of the RWS business. In addition, we recorded a $1.7 million adjustment to the carrying value of the intangible assets related to customer attrition of acquired clients.

從今年下半年開始，我們預計每季銷售、一般及行政費用約為 950 萬美元。在我繼續之前，我們在第一季有幾項非現金費用。第一筆損失是與出售 RWS 業務非核心部分有關的 440 萬美元。此外，我們也對與收購客戶的客戶流失相關的無形資產的帳面價值進行了 170 萬美元的調整。

Moving on to a review of the cash flows and balance sheet. At the end of the first quarter, we had $1.4 million in cash, approximately $21 million of available borrowing capacity on our $45 million operating borrowing lines. For the first quarter, we used approximately $1.1 million in cash to fund operations, which was related to an increase in working capital.

繼續檢討現金流和資產負債表。截至第一季末，我們擁有 140 萬美元現金，在 4,500 萬美元的營運借款額度中，可用借款能力約為 2,100 萬美元。第一季度，我們使用了約 110 萬美元的現金來資助運營，這與營運資金的增加有關。

As we described on previous calls, our accounts receivable balances are at elevated levels. I will note that we have great relationships with clients, elevated DSOs are not related to collectability. DSOs have been impacted by the timing of collections from a few of our largest customers, and we continue to work with them to accelerate the pace of collections.

正如我們在先前的電話會議中所描述的，我們的應收帳款餘額處於較高水準。我要指出的是，我們與客戶的關係很好，提高 DSO 與可收集性無關。DSO 受到我們幾個最大客戶的收款時間的影響，我們將繼續與他們合作，加快收款速度。

In addition, with the implementation of our automated AP system, we will be able to bill at a faster pace, further accelerating our cash cycle and lowering DSOs. We expect to see improvements in DSOs by the end of the second quarter. We received $5 million in proceeds from the sale of the noncore portion of the RWS business. In addition to the cash proceeds, there is a $6.5 million earn-out payable by the buyer over three years.

此外，隨著自動化 AP 系統的實施，我們將能夠以更快的速度開立帳單，進一步加快現金週期並降低 DSO。我們預計到第二季末 DSO 將有所改善。我們從出售 RWS 業務的非核心部分獲得了 500 萬美元的收益。除了現金收益外，買方還需在三年內支付 650 萬美元的獲利支出。

We used $2.5 million of the cash proceeds to reduce borrowings on the Monroe line, and the balance resulted in a $1 million net reduction in the balance with PNC. We also amended our agreements with Monroe and PNC so that we have additional time to realize the positive effects of our initiatives on our profitability and cash flow.

我們利用 250 萬美元的現金收益來減少門羅線的借款，餘額導致 PNC 的餘額淨減少 100 萬美元。我們還修改了與 Monroe 和 PNC 的協議，以便我們有更多時間來實現我們的舉措對盈利能力和現金流的積極影響。

Our rates have returned to the level prior to the refinancing in December and will return to the lower levels once we return to our historic run rate. And in further support of that, our covenants have been eased through 2025 with a quarter to 3 quarter turn easing of the leverage covenant ratios.

我們的利率已恢復到 12 月再融資之前的水平，一旦恢復到歷史運行利率，利率將回到較低水平。為了進一步支持這一點，到 2025 年，我們的契約將得到放寬，每季到第三個季度將放寬槓桿契約比率。

Additionally, we will be tested on leverage in FCCR with an annualized buildup of trailing 12 months of adjusted EBITDA, starting with our Q2 results. Finally, at the end of the quarter, we had $74.1 million in notes payable versus $76 million at the beginning of the year. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Perry.

此外，從第二季業績開始，我們將透過過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的年化累積來測試 FCCR 的槓桿率。最後，在本季末，我們的應付票據為 7,410 萬美元，而年初為 7,600 萬美元。現在，我將把電話轉給佩里。

Thank you, Brett. Since our last call two months ago, we have been hard at work and are making progress on our short-term initiatives and continuing to develop our long-term initiatives. Our key priorities, as discussed during our last call, are to improve EBITDA, improve cash generation and pay down debt.

謝謝你，布雷特。自從兩個月前上次電話會議以來，我們一直在努力工作，在短期計劃上取得了進展，並繼續制定長期計劃。正如我們上次電話會議中所討論的，我們的首要任務是提高 EBITDA、提高現金產生率和償還債務。

First, we have established an Operations Excellence Initiative as part of a cultural shift in our company. Our culture remains client-centric, focused on providing exceptional value. However, with this shift, we have a greater emphasis on performance and accountability.

首先，作為公司文化轉變的一部分，我們建立了卓越營運計劃。我們的文化始終以客戶為中心，專注於提供卓越的價值。然而，隨著這種轉變，我們更加重視績效和責任。

We are establishing metrics and processes that we will use to benchmark, measure and target improvement levels across the entire organization. This fully integrated effort will look to drive process improvements, improve cash flow, accelerate automation, enhance employee experience, increase customer value add, expand margins and accelerate the achievement of scale benefits.

我們正在建立指標和流程，用於對整個組織的改進程度進行基準測試、衡量和定位。這項全面整合的努力將致力於推動流程改善、改善現金流、加速自動化、增強員工體驗、增加客戶附加價值、擴大利潤率並加速實現規模效益。

This is similar to initiatives that helped create a positive change in our sales organization and is now being rolled out across the entire company. This is a key to coaching and motivating employees, key to demonstrating value to clients and key to driving performance.

這與幫助我們的銷售組織發生積極變化的舉措類似，目前正在整個公司推廣。這是指導和激勵員工的關鍵、向客戶展示價值的關鍵以及提高績效的關鍵。

Since our last call, we have initiated several projects that are now in flight and expected to deliver improved results. We'll have more details in the coming quarters. In addition to the vendor management platform, which is helping us move to zero-touch processing, we are developing workflows, which will drive process improvements across our value chain.

自上次會議以來，我們已啟動了多個項目，目前這些項目正在進行中，預計將取得更好的結果。我們將在接下來的幾個季度公佈更多細節。除了幫助我們轉向零接觸處理的供應商管理平台之外，我們還在開發工作流程，以推動整個價值鏈的流程改善。

This will increase efficiencies, lower operating cost, drive improved customer service and improve profitability and create a strong foundation as we scale the business. These activities are ongoing and build upon the efforts made over the last two years and are focused on accelerating them and increasing their financial impact.

這將提高效率，降低營運成本，改善客戶服務，提高獲利能力，並為我們擴大業務規模奠定堅實的基礎。這些活動正在進行中，並以過去兩年的努力為基礎，重點是加速這些活動並增加其財務影響。

We are also working to optimize the significant amount of new customers that we have been onboarding in the past several quarters. As we have described in the past, it can take several quarters for us to optimize service for clients. We share in these improvements and optimizations with our clients and the relationship mature -- as the relationship matures, we improve the margin profile of the business.

我們也致力於優化過去幾季以來我們接納的大量新客戶。正如我們過去所描述的，我們可能需要幾個季度的時間來優化客戶服務。我們與客戶分享這些改進和優化，並且關係日趨成熟——隨著關係的成熟，我們改善了業務的利潤狀況。

The optimization is well underway, and we expect to see continued improvement in the margin profile from new customers throughout the year. In addition to driving operational improvements, we have been growing and moving opportunities through our sales pipeline.

優化工作正在順利進行中，我們預計全年新客戶的利潤率狀況將持續改善。除了推動營運改善之外，我們還一直透過銷售管道增加和轉移機會。

Our pipeline is robust, and our sales force is executing a structured and disciplined plan to add new clients. Given the nature of our business, we don't estimate when deals in the pipeline may close, but I can say that opportunities are progressing through our funnel, and we believe we will continue to add new clients and client expansions.

我們的管道非常強大，我們的銷售團隊正在執行結構化且嚴謹的計劃來增加新客戶。鑑於我們業務的性質，我們無法估計正在進行的交易何時可能結束，但我可以說，機會正在透過我們的管道取得進展，我們相信我們將繼續增加新客戶並擴大客戶規模。

And finally, we are very focused on expanding our share of wallet of existing customers. We add significant value to customers and believe there are opportunities to systemically grow our existing customers. Regarding our outlook, some of the actions we have taken are beginning to show results.

最後，我們非常注重擴大現有客戶的錢包份額。我們為客戶增加了巨大的價值，並相信有機會有系統地增加現有客戶。關於我們的前景，我們採取的一些行動已開始顯現成效。

The costs we incurred on a temporary basis related to onboarding new clients and the transition to a new AP system are abating. In addition, we are a few weeks past the cost reduction actions we took during the first quarter, and we are starting to see the effects of that. These initiatives are continuing to take hold, and we expect steady improvement as we move through this year.

我們因接納新客戶和過渡到新的 AP 系統而臨時產生的成本正在減少。此外，我們在第一季採取的成本削減措施已經過去了幾週，並且開始看到其效果。這些舉措正在繼續發揮作用，我們預計今年將會穩步改善。

Historically, we have performed well during economic downturns, and we are monitoring our markets and customers closely. Our industrial clients have shown some weakness and given the uncertainty in the economy generally, volume with them may be impacted.

從歷史上看，我們在經濟低迷時期表現良好，並且我們正在密切關注我們的市場和客戶。我們的工業客戶表現出了一些弱點，並且考慮到整體經濟的不確定性，與他們的交易量可能會受到影響。

With that said, we have great relationships with these clients and believe there are opportunities to do more with them in the longer term. Overall, for 2025, we expect to show both top and bottom line growth and expect to resume more meaningful growth as we exit the year. Before we open it up for questions, I want to reiterate Dan's statement at the beginning of the call.

話雖如此，我們與這些客戶保持著良好的關係，並相信有機會在長期內與他們進行更多合作。總體而言，我們預計 2025 年營收和利潤都將實現成長，並預計在年底恢復更有意義的成長。在我們開始提問之前，我想重申丹在電話會議開始時的聲明。

The Board, management and our entire team are committed to aggressively drive change and enhance shareholder value. The market for our asset-light model remains robust. We are gaining share. Clients are providing us strong referrals, and we have opportunities to increase our share of wallet, and our cost-oriented value proposition is resonating loudly.

董事會、管理層和我們整個團隊致力於積極推動變革並提高股東價值。我們的輕資產模式的市場依然強勁。我們的份額正在增加。客戶為我們提供了強有力的推薦，我們有機會增加我們的錢包份額，並且我們以成本為導向的價值主張引起了強烈共鳴。

In addition, we are committed to maintaining a solid balance sheet and our priority for capital allocation remains the repayment of debt. And we are and will continue to take decisive action to improve our ability to execute, generate consistent, sustainable and profitable growth going forward. We would now like the operator to provide instructions on how listeners can queue up for questions.

此外，我們致力於維持穩健的資產負債表，我們的資本配置重點仍是償還債務。我們正在並將繼續採取果斷行動，提高我們的執行能力，實現未來持續、可持續和盈利的成長。我們現在希望操作員提供有關聽眾如何排隊提問的說明。

(Operator instructions)

（操作員指示）

Aaron Spychalla, Craig Hallum.

亞倫·斯皮查拉、克雷格·哈勒姆。

Yeah, hi, Perry and Brett. Thanks for taking the question. Maybe first for me, it's been kind of 8 weeks since the last call. And Perry, you kind of focused a lot on operational excellence and use the analogy of kind of pressurized pipe with the growth that you've been experiencing. Just curious if you've kind of identified any leaks or kind of gaps since then and just kind of any notable KPIs to highlight as you really focus on execution moving forward.

是的，嗨，佩里和布雷特。感謝您回答這個問題。對我來說這也許是第一次，距離上次通話已經 8 週了。佩里，您非常注重卓越運營，並用加壓管道來比喻您所經歷的成長。我只是好奇，從那時起，您是否發現了任何洩漏或差距，以及在您真正關注執行進度時，是否有任何值得注意的 KPI 需要強調。

Yes. So I do remember that analogy. And yes, we -- the first thing that we have done is we started to baseline all of our processes. So when we talk about operational initiative, our operational excellence initiative, we're not referring to just operations, but it's really the new way that we're running the company. So it involves the way we manage our vendors, our customers, the way we pay our bills, the way we process invoices.

是的。所以我確實記得那個比喻。是的，我們所做的第一件事就是開始對所有流程進行基準測試。因此，當我們談論營運計劃、卓越營運計劃時，我們指的不僅僅是運營，而是我們經營公司的新方式。因此，它涉及我們管理供應商、客戶的方式、支付帳單的方式、處理發票的方式。

It's really the entire value chain that we're focused on. So yes, we have indeed identified flaws and gaps in the process. The processes were not broken, as I had mentioned before, but we've certainly identified some weaknesses, we have designed processes to fix those gaps. We've implemented a number of them.

我們真正關注的是整個價值鏈。是的，我們確實發現了這過程中的缺陷和差距。正如我之前提到的，流程並沒有中斷，但我們確實發現了一些弱點，並設計了流程來彌補這些缺陷。我們已經實施了其中的許多措施。

In addition to implementing those changes to kind of our longer-term initiatives, we've also implemented some -- I call them quick hits, but some quick initiatives to drive some immediate impact beginning in Q2.

除了對我們的長期計劃實施這些改變之外，我們還實施了一些——我稱之為快速舉措，但這些快速舉措將從第二季開始產生一些直接影響。

So I remain optimistic and bullish about our ability to execute. The challenge that we have is we have just not converted our business into profit. And that really comes from filling those gaps and increasing efficiencies in our operations, which is precisely what we're doing. So yes, there's more to come, but we certainly have begun the path to improvement and beginning to see results.

因此，我對我們的執行能力仍然持樂觀和信心。我們面臨的挑戰是我們還沒有將業務轉化為利潤。這實際上來自於填補這些差距並提高我們的營運效率，而這正是我們正在做的事情。是的，未來還會有更多，但我們確實已經開始了改進之路，並開始看到成果。

Gerry Sweeney, Roth Capital.

羅斯資本的格里·斯威​​尼 (Gerry Sweeney)。

Yeah, good afternoon, Perry and Brett. Thanks for taking my call and Dan. You're seeing some weakness in end markets, I think, with some of your more mature companies. Just curious if that has increased over the last 8 weeks. Obviously, we woke up today and the world is getting better, but just curious as to what you're seeing out there in the general market.

是的，下午好，佩里和布雷特。感謝丹接聽我的電話。我認為，一些比較成熟的公司在終端市場中存在一些疲軟現象。只是好奇在過去 8 週內這個數字是否有增加。顯然，我們今天醒來，世界正在變得更好，但我只是好奇你在一般市場上看到了什麼。

Yes. I'll take that, at least initially. I don't think we're seeing any increase in the weakness in our market. And at least I remain hopeful that with some of the new developments, perhaps we'll see some strength returning. But yes, no significant change. Demand is -- and volumes are slightly down. And I don't see any necessarily any change in the immediate future, but certainly hopeful.

是的。我會接受，至少一開始是這樣。我認為我們的市場疲軟程度並未加劇。至少我仍然抱持著希望，隨著一些新的發展，我們或許會看到一些力量的回歸。但確實，沒有顯著的改變。需求和數量略有下降。我認為近期不一定會有任何變化，但肯定充滿希望。

Got you. And I'm sorry, the last -- one of the comments was a little tongue in cheek, but the other part was what about the pipeline? Obviously, there's some uncertainty into the markets that have percolated over the last couple of weeks

明白了。抱歉，最後一則評論有點諷刺，但另一部分是關於管道的嗎？顯然，過去幾週市場中瀰漫著一些不確定性

Yes.

是的。

Are you seeing longer sales cycle starting to emerge or people pulling back basically saying, let's see what happens? Or how does that pipeline look with --

您是否看到銷售週期開始變長，或者人們開始退縮，基本上是說，讓我們看看會發生什麼？或者管道看起來怎麼樣--

Yes, great question. So with some of our opportunities, we've seen a bit of a slowdown. And I don't think it's anything that will last for a significant time. I think decision-makers are just being a bit more cautious before kind of pulling the trigger. What's interesting, however, is we are attracting prospects that have never used this model before.

是的，很好的問題。因此，對於我們的一些機會，我們看到了一點放緩。我不認為這會持續很長時間。我認為決策者在採取行動之前會更加謹慎。然而有趣的是，我們正在吸引以前從未使用過這種模式的潛在客戶。

And I think it's because of the uncertainty in the economy, companies are -- they're back to business. They're back to running their business as efficiently as possible. They're looking for cost savings. They're looking for efficiencies. And these are primary value propositions of our model.

我認為這是因為經濟的不確定性，公司才會恢復營業。他們重新開始盡可能有效率地經營業務。他們正在尋求節省成本的方法。他們正在尋求提高效率。這些是我們模型的主要價值主張。

So while we have seen some slowdown maybe in a couple of prospects, but nothing significant, we're seeing increased demand actually for our services. And I measure our pipeline by different stages in the sales cycle. And I'm most interested in the final two stages of our sales cycle. Those two stages are more robust than they've ever been. So as I mentioned in my comments, I anticipate our growth to continue.

因此，儘管我們看到一些前景可能出現放緩，但並不顯著，但我們看到對我們服務的需求實際上增加。我根據銷售週期的不同階段來衡量我們的銷售管道。我最感興趣的是銷售週期的最後兩個階段。這兩個階段比以往任何時候都更強大。正如我在評論中提到的那樣，我預計我們的成長將會持續下去。

Got it. One for Brett. Obviously, DSOs a little higher, maybe even stubbornly higher. How do we bring those down a little bit? I mean, obviously, we're in a period of uncertainty, companies, again, pull things back in, maybe a little bit slower pay.

知道了。一個給布雷特。顯然，DSO 會稍微高一點，甚至可能一直高下去。我們如何才能將這些降低一點呢？我的意思是，顯然，我們正處於一個不確定的時期，公司再次收緊政策，付款速度可能會慢一點。

You're a little bit of a smaller company compared to some of your clients. So what are the strategies to sort of bring that DSO Day count down?

與您的一些客戶相比，您的公司規模較小。那麼有什麼策略可以縮短 DSO 日倒數呢？

Yes. I think first and foremost, we've got a couple of larger clients that have moved just across the quarter. We've been talking about that. We've had good conversations. Some of it's just inefficiency in processing those through.

是的。我認為首先，我們有幾個較大的客戶在本季發生了變化。我們一直在談論這個。我們進行了很好的交談。其中一些只是處理效率低下。

Certainly, no concerns with collectibility or relationships there, and it's just ongoing conversations that we're having. We've seen some improvement. We just haven't been able to quite get those inside the quarter yet, but we continue to work and have good conversations. And then as we talked about in the prepared remarks, the focus has been near term on -- or over the last year -- on the AP system.

當然，這並不涉及收藏性或關係，這只是我們正在進行的持續對話。我們已經看到了一些進步。我們只是還沒有能夠在本季內實現這些目標，但我們會繼續努力並進行良好的對話。然後，正如我們在準備好的發言中談到的，近期（或者說過去一年）的重點是 AP 系統。

That was critical to kind of provide a path on some of these other initiatives as well, one of which gives us increased visibility into missing invoices and other types of things that we can now get better visibility in, be proactive and go out and find those and get those across the finish line to be built.

這對於為其他一些舉措提供指導也至關重要，其中一項舉措讓我們能夠更好地了解丟失的發票和其他類型的事項，我們現在可以更好地了解這些事項，積極主動地出去尋找這些問題，並將它們推向終點線。

Sometimes it's just missing volumes that you're needed. But it's getting that efficiency now on the billing side, which is much more customer-specific. So it can be a little bit more challenging, but there's some definite opportunities there for us to improve.

有時只是缺少您需要的捲。但現在計費方面的效率已經提高，並且更加以客戶為中心。因此，這可能會更具挑戰性，但我們也確實有一些改進的機會。

Got it. So maybe to summarize, even getting the bills out a little faster, a little bit cleaner, a little bit more efficiency so they can be paid a little bit faster, but also visibility on some of the, we'll call them problem children and just being able to find them and recognize some of those issues before they get a little bit more outdated. Is that sort of fair?

知道了。所以也許可以總結一下，即使賬單發出得更快一些，更乾淨一些，更有效率一些，這樣他們就可以更快地得到支付，但同時也要對其中一些問題有清晰的認識，我們稱之為問題兒童，並且能夠在它們變得更加過時之前找到它們並認識到其中的一些問題。這樣公平嗎？

Yes, that's a good summary, Gerry.

是的，這是一個很好的總結，格里。

Okay, great. I'll jump back and let queue. Thanks.

好的，太好了。我會跳回去排隊。謝謝。

Owen Rickert, Northland Capital Markets.

歐文‧里克特 (Owen Rickert)，北國資本市場 (Northland Capital Markets)。

Hey guys, thank you, for taking my question here. Quickly, are there any notable changes in some of your end customer behavior or volumes just across your end markets that stood out this quarter or more specifically over the last month and a half, other than in the industrial segment, just given some of the macro and tariff uncertainty.

嘿夥計們，謝謝你們在這裡回答我的問題。很快，除了工業領域之外，考慮到一些宏觀和關稅的不確定性，您的一些終端客戶行為或終端市場銷售在本季度或更具體地說在過去一個半月中是否有任何顯著變化？

Yes. Other than our industrial sector, no, not at all. In fact, as I said, we've actually seen some -- an uptick in demand for the services that we provide. So the other end markets, we haven't seen any effect.

是的。除了我們的工業部門以外，沒有，一點也沒有。事實上，正如我所說，我們確實看到了一些東西——對我們所提供服務的需求有所上升。因此，我們尚未看到其他終端市場的任何影響。

Perfect, thank you.

非常好，謝謝。

Nelson Obus, Wynnefield Capital.

納爾遜·奧布斯（Nelson Obus），Wynnefield Capital。

Yes, hi there guys. Yes. On the narrative here, the term customer attrition came up 3 or 4 times. And obviously, half of it is the asset sale. But the other half, $3 million to $4 million, is there any common denominator that you found that has caused the customer to leave you and go to a competitor?

是的，大家好。是的。在這裡的敘述中，「客戶流失」一詞出現了 3 到 4 次。顯然，其中一半是資產出售。但另一半，即 300 萬到 400 萬美元，您是否發現有什麼共同點導致客戶離開您而轉向競爭對手？

Nelson, this is Brett. I'll take that. Yes, we have seen some -- I mean some attrition. As a reminder, you know this, but always helpful to remind Quest, not only Quest, but just the industry in general, generally is very sticky. So -- and we certainly expect this to continue.

尼爾森，這是布雷特。我會接受的。是的，我們看到了一些——我的意思是一些人員流失。提醒一下，您知道這一點，但提醒 Quest 總是有幫助的，不僅是 Quest，而且整個行業總體上都非常粘稠。所以——我們當然希望這種情況能夠持續下去。

But we certainly have been hit with some isolated attrition that has mostly been related to customers being acquired with different programs in place. So we've seen some movement there. As you mentioned, half of that was related to the business that was exited.

但我們確實遭遇了一些個別的人員流失，這主要與透過不同的計劃獲取客戶有關。所以我們在那裡看到了一些動靜。正如您所提到的，其中一半與退出的業務有關。

That business has been really inconsistent over the last year, especially. And then just outside of the attrition, we continue to talk about some of the challenges on the industrial side. But it's really isolated to those customers that have been acquired with different programs in terms of just core attrition.

尤其是去年，該業務一直不太穩定。除了人員減員之外，我們還將繼續討論工業方面的一些挑戰。但就核心客戶流失而言，這對於那些透過不同計畫獲得的客戶來說確實是孤立的。

Yes, that makes sense. And I'm just curious, you -- I'm sorry, you talked about bonus accrual. How -- if I'm an employee of the company in this quarter, how do I merit a bonus accrual? I'm curious.

是的，這很有道理。我只是好奇，你——對不起，你談到了獎金累積。如果我是本季的公司員工，我該如何獲得獎金？我很好奇。

Well, it's -- our bonuses are built over an annualized forecast. So this is -- as you would imagine, last year, there was a very low level of bonus paid out, if any, to most employees. So it's that buildup of the annualized, and it will certainly get trued up based on the performance of the company over this year.

嗯，我們的獎金是根據年度預測制定的。所以這是——正如你所想像的，去年，支付給大多數員工的獎金水平非常低，甚至沒有。因此，這是年度化的積累，並且肯定會根據公司今年的業績進行調整。

I see. It's based on a yearly -- on your yearly estimate that the Board has approved, correct?

我懂了。這是基於董事會批准的年度估計，對嗎？

Yes.

是的。

And it's measured, Nelson, at the end of the year. It's measured at the end of the year based on total performance.

尼爾森，這是在年底進行測量的。它是根據年底的整體績效進行衡量的。

Sure. Got it. I assume the salesmen are rewarded in a different mode given that the task is different.

當然。知道了。我認為，由於任務不同，銷售人員獲得的獎勵方式也不同。

Yes. Nelson, they're on a commission plan and they don't earn a bonus.

是的。尼爾森，他們採用佣金計劃，因此不賺取獎金。

Good. Okay. I hope they make a lot of money on commissions.

好的。好的。我希望他們能從佣金中賺很多錢。

I do as well. I really hope they do well. And -- but we hold that team very, very accountable. They've got very high goals. I have high standards for the sales team.

我也是。我真的希望他們能做得很好。而且——但我們認為該團隊負有非常大的責任。他們有很高的目標。我對銷售團隊的要求很高。

We track every move they make. And unfortunately, we've had to make a couple of moves for some people that weren't performing, but we've got a Class A team. And as I said, the pipeline is very robust.

我們追蹤他們的一舉一動。不幸的是，我們不得不對一些表現不佳的人採取一些措施，但我們擁有一支一流的團隊。正如我所說，該管道非常強大。

Greg Kitt, Pinnacle Family Office.

格雷格·基特 (Greg Kitt)，Pinnacle 家族辦公室。

Hi, thank you for taking my questions. Perry, I think this quarter reflects your work, two weeks into the job as CEO. And so I don't think it's really fair to look at Q1 and say, hey, this is really representative of all the impact from the changes that you're putting into place.

你好，謝謝你回答我的問題。佩里，我認為本季反映了你擔任執行長兩週以來的工作。因此，我認為，看著第一季的數據並說「嘿，這確實代表了你所實施的變革所帶來的所有影響」這種說法並不公平。

I hear you guys talking about gross profit increasing and SG&A decreasing. What would be a fair timetable to evaluate a lot of these initiatives that you're putting in place? Do you think a year from now that a lot of this will have been -- will have taken effect and we'll see material results? It sounds like some of it starts in Q2.

我聽到你們談論毛利增加而銷售、一般及行政費用減少。評估您所實施的諸多措施的合理時間表是怎樣的？您是否認為一年後這些措施將會生效並且我們會看到實質的成果？聽起來其中一些是從第二季開始的。

Yes. I think that's fair, Greg. And I appreciate your earlier comment about my short time in the position. But I've been in this industry for 35 years. I know where to look.

是的。我認為這很公平，格雷格。我很感謝您之前對我擔任該職位時間短的評價。但我已經在這個行業工作了35年。我知道去哪裡找。

And yes, I think a year from now, this -- we're going to look like a very different company. I expect to see results beginning Q2, but largely in Q3 and Q4, they'll come to fruition. So -- and look, this is -- the cultural shift that we're making, this isn't a onetime effort.

是的，我認為一年後，我們將會變成一家截然不同的公司。我預計在第二季初就能看到結果，但主要在第三季和第四季才會實現。所以 — — 你看，這就是 — — 我們正在進行的文化轉變，這不是一次性的努力。

We're changing the culture of the company where the strategy is about continuous improvement, never being satisfied with where we're at and always striving to do better. So I don't want to sound like we're taking some quick hits and some quick initiatives and then we'll sit back and relax. This is never going to end. We'll constantly strive to improve.

我們正在改變公司的文化，其策略是持續改進，永不滿足於現狀，並且始終努力做得更好。所以我不想聽起來像是我們只是採取一些快速的打擊和一些快速的舉措，然後我們就會坐下來放鬆。這永遠不會結束。我們將不斷努力改進。

Thank you. On the comments around attrition, I think in Brett's commentary, he said something like past client attrition. Was there any material attrition in this quarter? Or this was all the attrition that you had previously referenced on the Q4 call?

謝謝。關於人員流失的評論，我認為在布雷特的評論中，他說了一些類似過去客戶流失的事情。本季有重大人員流失嗎？或者這就是您之前在第四季度電話會議上提到的所有人員流失？

Yes, I'll take that, Greg. Yes, most of it is substantially from previous attrition that we've talked about.

是的，我接受，格雷格。是的，其中大部分是由於我們之前談到的人員減員造成的。

One thing to add, Greg, is we take attrition very seriously. I do especially and we've instituted a new customer retention plan where I will be personally involved. So I'm getting out to meet our top customers, developing higher-level relationships, redeveloping specific customer plans for every one of our customers, which include how do we add value to those customers, how do we expand our margins. We're establishing cadences on how often to visit customers.

格雷格，還有一點要補充，那就是我們非常重視人員流失。我尤其如此，我們已經制定了一項新的客戶保留計劃，我將親自參與其中。因此，我要出去會見我們的頂級客戶，發展更高層次的關係，為我們的每一位客戶重新制定具體的客戶計劃，其中包括我們如何為這些客戶增加價值，如何擴大我們的利潤率。我們正在製定拜訪客戶的頻率。

Times are changing now where customers are -- they're welcoming us back into their offices. So we're taking advantage of that. And we're measuring the progress. We're also tracking share of wallet, which is just now really beginning. So there is a top priority effort on my part to focus on customer retention.

時代在變化，客戶正在歡迎我們回到他們的辦公室。所以我們要利用這一點。我們正在衡量進展。我們也在追蹤錢包份額，這才剛開始。因此，我的首要任務就是專注於保留客戶。

Do you mean customers are welcoming you back in because of COVID policies or something?

您的意思是顧客會因為 COVID 政策或其他原因而歡迎您回來嗎？

Yes. They're back in the office or when they're not, I mean, people are kind of back to business again. For the longest time, it was -- people didn't want to get out of their pajamas to come out and meet. So it's all changing again. And I'm happy to see that. Yes, you're welcome.

是的。無論他們是否回到辦公室，我的意思是，人們又開始工作了。長期以來，人們都不願意脫掉睡衣出來開會。所以一切又再次改變了。我很高興看到這一點。是的，別客氣。

Did RWS, the divested part of RWS have any associated SG&A also? Or were all the costs to serve that revenue and COGS?

RWS 剝離的部分是否也具有相關的銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)？還是所有成本都是為了實現收入和銷貨成本？

Hey, Greg, this is Brett again. Yes, there were certainly a lot of direct costs associated with that business. It was a fairly high-touch business. So as we announced as part of our reduction that we announced in March, those have fled through as well. Some of those were direct and some of those are related to the REIT business as well.

嘿，格雷格，我又是布雷特。是的，這項業務確實涉及許多直接成本。這是一項相當高接觸度的業務。因此，正如我們在 3 月宣布的削減計劃的一部分一樣，這些也已經消失了。其中一些是直接的，還有一些也與房地產投資信託業務有關。

Okay. And so the SG&A reduction that you talked about for the second half, I think you said $9.5 million a quarter. Is there some way to think about how much of that improvement is from the RWS divestiture versus these other initiatives?

好的。所以，您談到的下半年銷售、一般及行政費用的減少，我記得您說的是每季 950 萬美元。有沒有辦法考慮一下，相對於其他舉措，這種改善在多大程度上來自於 RWS 資產剝離？

No. But well, just to be clear, the $3 million in annualized savings that we discussed, that was all in place at the end of Q1. So we get that full run rate for the rest of this year. As we continue to look and drive additional efficiencies through the business, we'll look to see some additional savings in the back half of the year. But that full $3 million is already realized starting in Q2.

不。但需要明確的是，我們討論的 300 萬美元年度節省金額已在第一季末全部到位。因此，我們獲得了今年剩餘時間的全部運行率。隨著我們繼續尋求並提高業務效率，我們希望在今年下半年看到一些額外的節省。但這 300 萬美元的全部金額已從第二季開始實現。

Thank you. My last question is just on the AR, which people have talked about. But I think it's always interesting to just see what the size of the opportunity is. And I think if you can get to that 65 days, where the company had been in the past, and I think you were in the 50s for a lot of '23. But if you can get to 65 days, there's like $15 million of cash that you can free up. I know that you believe that you can see an improvement into Q2.

謝謝。我的最後一個問題是關於 AR 的，人們已經討論過了。但我認為看看機會有多大總是很有趣的。我認為，如果你能達到 65 天，公司過去也曾達到這個水平，而我認為在 23 年的大部分時間裡，你的水平都在 50 多天。但如果你能達到 65 天，你就可以釋放 1500 萬美元的現金。我知道您相信您會看到第二季的改善。

Like what is going to stop you from getting to 65 days at some point? Because where you are with your debt agreement just created a little bit of an increased cost until you can start to get back to these new rates that you had agreed to in December?

例如，什麼會阻止你達到 65 天呢？因為您的債務協議只是增加了一點成本，直到您可以開始恢復到 12 月同意的新利率？

Yes. I think the only thing that would really stop us is we've talked about this, we're dealing with larger clients, right, where we may not have as much leverage as we'd like. But the flip side of that is we continue to bring on new clients at much better terms. So as we're continue to -- those newer clients are a larger percentage of the overall business, given any other initiatives or changes, we should be able to get back to that.

是的。我認為唯一能真正阻止我們的是我們已經討論過這個問題，我們正在與更大的客戶打交道，對的，我們可能沒有我們想要的那麼多的槓桿。但另一方面，我們繼續以更優惠的條件吸引新客戶。因此，隨著我們繼續努力——這些新客戶佔整體業務的較大比例，考慮到任何其他舉措或變化，我們應該能夠回到那種狀態。

Aaron Spychalla, Craig-Hallum.

亞倫·斯皮查拉、克雷格·哈勒姆。

Yes. Hi again, apologies, I'm kind of juggling multiple calls. So obviously, most of the questions I had were asked there. But maybe one on optimizing the new business, I saw you kind of called out the impact in the first quarter. Just wanted to understand how you're thinking margins can improve as we move through the year on that front and just focus as you win further new business and kind of shortening that time period.

是的。再次問好，抱歉，我正在同時接聽多通電話。顯然，我的大部分問題都是在那裡問的。但也許是關於優化新業務，我看到您在第一季提到了其影響。只是想了解一下，您認為隨著我們在這一年中不斷前進，利潤率會如何提高，並且只需集中精力贏得更多新業務並縮短這一時間段即可。

So we've got a number of initiatives underway, both to improve the current gross profit for existing customers as well as adding new customers. Other initiatives are obviously to reduce SG&A. So we have three guiding lights right now, and that is improving EBITDA, improving cash flow and paying down debt.

因此，我們採取了一系列舉措，既是為了提高現有客戶的當前毛利，也是為了增加新客戶。其他措施顯然是為了降低銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)。所以我們現在有三個指導方針，那就是提高 EBITDA、改善現金流和償還債務。

So all of the initiatives that we have underway right now are contributing to either improved EBITDA or gross profit. And there's a number -- Aaron, there's a number of these projects in flight right now. So I prefer not to get involved in each of them. But kind of at the high level, we have major projects in sourcing the contract.

因此，我們目前正在進行的所有措施都有助於提高 EBITDA 或毛利。還有許多——亞倫，目前有許多這樣的計畫正在進行中。所以我寧願不參與每一個。但在高層，我們在尋找合約方面有重大項目。

We have major projects involved in procure to pay. And then we've got significant work being done in order to cash. So those are -- I mean, if you really looked at our workflow and sum them up into three kind of big buckets, those are them. And we're keenly focused on all three. And they -- we do expect them to contribute to improved GP and EBITDA.

我們有許多涉及採購到付款的重大項目。然後，為了兌現，我們做了大量工作。所以這些是——我的意思是，如果你真的看了我們的工作流程並將它們總結成三大類，那就是它們。我們非常關注這三個方面。我們確實希望他們能夠為改善 GP 和 EBITDA 做出貢獻。

Understood, appreciate the color and for taking the questions.

明白了，感謝您的色彩和回答問題。

George Melas, MKH Management.

喬治‧梅拉斯 (George Melas)，MKH 管理公司。

Great. Thank you. Good afternoon. I have a follow-up question on the receivables. They're roughly at 85 days. And I'm just wondering what your contracts spell out with customers because I doubt that they are -- I imagine most of your customers are, you have 30- or 60-day payments with them. So I'm just trying to understand how it could be 85. And do you have any customer contracts, where you have 90-day terms?

偉大的。謝謝。午安.我對應收帳款有後續問題。大約是 85 天。我只是想知道您與客戶簽訂的合約具體規定了什麼，因為我懷疑這些合約是否明確——我想您的大多數客戶都是這樣，您與他們簽訂的是 30 天或 60 天的付款合約。所以我只是想知道它怎麼會是 85。你們有沒有任何為期 90 天的客戶合約？

Hey George, it's Brett. I'll take that. It certainly -- our terms range client to client. It's tough to pin down or talk about any specific. But going back to the comments around improving the billing rates, billing faster, that's tied up outside.

嘿，喬治，我是布雷特。我會接受的。當然－我們的條款針對不同的客戶。很難確定或談論任何具體的事情。但回到有關提高計費率、加快計費的評論，這是與外界脫節的。

The clock hasn't started with those clients yet. They're still accrued revenue. We need to get them billed out faster so that we can start the clock on the actual terms with the clients. So that accrued piece is what we're intently focused on because we see that as the most near-term opportunity to unlock some cash.

這些客戶的計時還沒開始。它們仍是應計收入。我們需要更快地開立帳單，以便我們能夠根據客戶的實際條款開始計時。因此，我們重點關注的是這部分應計收入，因為我們認為這是近期釋放現金的機會。

Okay. Do you have a sense of how quickly you actually bill customers? Is it 15 days or 20 days that it takes you from the date of service to bill a customer?

好的。您是否了解向客戶開立帳單的實際速度有多快？從提供服務之日到向客戶開立帳單需要 15 天還是 20 天？

Yes, it's hard. It's so client-driven on the billing side. It depends. Some of it's contractually on when we can bill. Some of it's based on what -- how much of a percentage of a client's billings are dependent on volumes that we have to get from our vendors.

是的，很難。在計費方面，它完全由客戶驅動。這取決於。其中一些是合約中規定的何時可以開立帳單。其中一些取決於——客戶帳單的百分比有多少取決於我們必須從供應商獲得的數量。

So there is a lot in there, but we're certainly, as part of these initiatives and part of this performance culture, measuring these things on a day-to-day basis, weekly basis, setting thresholds and making improvements one by one.

這裡面有很多內容，但作為這些措施和績效文化的一部分，我們當然會每天、每週衡量這些事情，設定門檻並逐一改進。

Okay. And then thank you for providing sort of some clarity on the revenue changes, the attrition and the lower volume. If we take -- if we do some very, very simple math, the revenue is roughly down $4 million year-over-year and the attrition and the lower volume, that's roughly $15 million.

好的。然後感謝您對收入變化、人員流失和交易量下降等問題做出澄清。如果我們做一些非常非常簡單的數學計算，我們會發現收入比去年同期下降了約 400 萬美元，而人員流失和銷量下降約為 1500 萬美元。

So it means that you added $11 million in revenue. Roughly how much of that is the existing customers versus those that you added -- so I should say, customers pre-2024 versus those that you added in 2024. I imagine the ones you added are the lion's share of that, but I'm not sure.

所以這意味著你的收入增加了 1100 萬美元。大致來說，其中有多少是現有客戶，有多少是新增客戶？我應該說，2024 年之前的客戶與 2024 年新增的客戶。我想您添加的內容佔了其中的大部分，但我不確定。

Yes, 100% Yes, you're right. Majority of that's new clients added throughout 2024.

是的，100％是的，你是對的。其中大部分是 2024 年新增的客戶。

Okay. Great. And then one quick final question. Those clients added in 2024, I think they came at slightly lower gross margin because I think the company had sort of some confidence that over time, you can increase those gross margins. Did we somewhat miscalculate there a little bit and take customers at a meaningfully lower initial gross margin? Or maybe I got that -- maybe that's -- I just got the wrong narratives on that.

好的。偉大的。最後還有一個簡短的問題。我認為，2024 年增加的那些客戶的毛利率會略低一些，因為我認為公司有信心，隨著時間的推移，可以提高這些毛利率。我們是不是有點計算錯誤，以明顯較低的初始毛利率吸引顧客？或者也許我明白了——也許那是——我只是對此有了錯誤的敘述。

Yes. I wouldn't say we miscalculated at all. Some of these just have a longer tail. It's -- you missed the buildup of previous clients that we've had that we've matured now and where they were brought in. But we look at this on an individual case-by-case basis, when we sign off on these deals.

是的。我不會說我們完全失算了。有些只是尾巴較長。您錯過了我們之前的客戶積累，現在我們已經成熟，他們也被帶進來了。但當我們簽署這些協議時，我們會根據具體情況逐一審查。

We have a pretty robust pricing committee process that everything goes through. And we certainly always keep in mind what the long-term potential of these clients are. Sometimes those take a little bit longer. Sometimes those additional locations have to come up for contract again, some of the services as well. So it can just -- it's largely client by client, but some of these have taken a little bit longer to ramp up.

我們有一個非常嚴格的定價委員會流程，所有事情都必須經過它。我們當然始終牢記這些客戶的長期潛力。有時這些會花更長一點的時間。有時這些額外的地點必須再次簽訂合同，有些服務也必須再次簽訂合約。因此它可以只是——它主要針對客戶，但其中一些需要更長的時間才能完成。

George, we haven't really -- I don't think we overestimated. To maximize the margin in this business, it can take several quarters. But I can tell you and reassure you that we are working very aggressively with our hauling partners to deliver incremental value to our customers, which will expand margins. But it does take a few quarters to fully optimize those new customers.

喬治，我們並沒有真正——我不認為我們高估了。要使該業務的利潤最大化，可能需要幾個季度的時間。但我可以告訴您並向您保證，我們正在與我們的運輸合作夥伴積極合作，為我們的客戶提供增量價值，這將擴大利潤率。但確實需要幾個季度才能完全優化這些新客戶。

Okay, great. Good to see the, your energy and enthusiasm. Thank you very much.

好的，太好了。很高興看到您的活力和熱情。非常感謝。

Yeah, you're welcome.

是的，別客氣。

Thank you. Everyone, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。各位，今天的活動就到這裡了。現在您可以斷開連接並享受美好的一天。感謝您的參與。