Solving the senior hire dilemma
We bridge the gap between hiring senior finance professionals and off-the-shelf options with custom FP&A software.
Introduction
Fast-growing companies often face a debt of financial knowledge and are in urgent need of a solution. The most common choice would be between two options:
- Hire a senior finance professional
- Search the market for a software solution
Option 1 is costly, particularly for financially constrained businesses. Furthermore, in high-growth technology companies, the idea of diverting funds away from sales and marketing for an investment in operations is not appealing as it could slow down growth.
As a result, the focus shifts towards Option 2. Due to the cost conscious nature of these decisions, senior management can also find themselves drawn towards a cheaper software solution. However, these solutions sometimes lack the ability to articulate valuable insights from the data, which hinders effective decision making. In addition, overburdening small finance teams with additional software causes problems. For example, if the key staff member responsible for it departs, then there is a risk of incurring high fees for an unused off-the-shelf solution.
Benefits of investing in bespoke FP&A software
At Finomatic, we offer a powerful hybrid solution that provides the best of both Option 1 and 2 above – a bespoke FP&A solution built by experts in the technology industry. As a one-off fixed-fee project, we work closely with our clients to build a tool which is perfectly tailored to their business needs. We perform a granular analysis of the organisation’s data and ensure that the operational and financial information are aligned. We adopt a fully collaborative approach which helps our clients to uncover the story behind the numbers and enables better strategic decision-making.
Our solutions remove the immediate need for a senior FP&A hire, which can yield the following benefits:
Cost savings
Hiring a senior-level employee is expensive. By implementing bespoke software, the organisation can save costs.
Immediate functionality
A bespoke FP&A solution created by industry experts can provide immediate functionality and address critical needs without a lengthy hiring and onboarding process. This allows the organisation to continue operations smoothly while searching for the right senior hire.
Increased productivity
Implementing bespoke software can improve productivity by automating processes, streamlining workflows and reducing manual efforts. This helps bridge the gap caused by the absence of a senior hire.
Flexibility and scalability
Finomatic’s software solutions are flexible and scalable, allowing the organisation to adapt and grow without the potentially rigid limitations imposed by a single senior employee. It offers the ability to adjust functionalities as needed, accommodating changing business requirements.
Testing and evaluation
Implementing software as a stopgap allows the organisation to test and evaluate different solutions before committing to a permanent hire. This helps in understanding the specific needs and requirements of the company, enabling better decision-making when selecting the right senior candidate. For example, resolving issues of financial data accuracy will empower a business to focus on hiring the correct strategic CFO, rather than worrying about data analysis capabilities.
Learning and knowledge transfer
During the implementation of software, existing employees can gain valuable experience and knowledge about the system. This knowledge can be shared and transferred, making the transition smoother when the senior hire eventually joins the organisation.
Reduced risk
Hiring a senior-level employee is a significant investment for an organisation. By using bespoke software as a temporary solution, the organisation can mitigate the risk associated with making a wrong hire or bringing someone on board who might not be the right long term fit.
Why choose Finomatic?
A bespoke FP&A solution can help to solve pain points quickly and save money in the long run. Here are some reasons that we are in a strong position to help our clients:
Corporate finance expertise
We understand that the ‘so what’ from the data is what really matters. We always focus on identifying the key drivers of business performance and how these will impact future growth.
Value for money
Our projects typically have a payback period of less than six months, meaning that our solutions offer exceptional value. You can use our payback calculator to find out how much money could be saved by using our services (compared to a new senior hire).
Broaden the hiring process
Our tools do the heavy lifting, eliminating the need for organisations to hire individuals with advanced data skills. This allows our clients to focus on candidates with the right operational and strategic backgrounds to fuel the company’s growth.
High-quality solutions
Our bespoke FP&A solutions automate the process of collecting, cleaning and aggregating data from multiple sources. This frees up our clients’ time to analyse the data instead of collating and transforming it.
Maximise company valuation
Momentum and competition are two key drivers of valuation in a corporate finance transaction. A bespoke FP&A solution created by corporate finance experts will reduce the friction in an investment/acquisition process. Our tools produce detailed analysis with a clearly defined audit trail to ensure a smooth financial due diligence process.
Conclusion
It’s important to note that while software can serve as a temporary solution, a senior hire’s expertise and strategic input are valuable as the business matures and the sales/marketing ROI declines. As company-specific software is an effective tool in the short-medium term, it allows the business to find the right candidate for their business in their own time. This reduces the risk of making a hiring mistake at a senior level which can be very disruptive for any business.
How much do our clients save?
Our clients typically come to us when they want to supercharge their growth through data-driven decision making. However, their finance teams are often overstretched and would require an additional senior finance hire to perform the FP&A role. Our one-off projects allow companies to benefit from these insights quickly, while also saving money by delaying the need for this senior finance hire.
Use our pricing calculator below to see how much your organisation could save by engaging Finomatic. This payback calculator is a deliberately conservative calculation because there are a number of additional benefits which are difficult to quantify. These benefits include the ability to:
- Supercharge growth through more informed data-driven decisions ;
- Reinvest cash savings into sales and marketing ;
- Be ready for a corporate finance transaction at any time ; and
- Save on advisory fees at the point of a transaction.
Note that the interactive dashboard demonstration is not available on mobile phone devices. Please use a tablet or desktop.
**Fully loading refers to employee costs which are not captured in salary plus bonus. These typically include: pension, employer national insurance, allocation of overheads, training, recruitment fees, time invested in hiring process, IT equipment, management time, office space, payroll administration, internal meetings, employer liability insurance, employee benefits (e.g. health insurance) and incentives (e.g. stock options).
Company size
Start-up
Characteristics
- Revenue <£5m
- Single entity
- Domestic business
- 1-2 revenue streams
- <100 customers
- <50 employees
Scale-up
Characteristics
- Revenue £5-30m
- Multiple entities
- International business
- 3-4 revenue streams
- 100-600 customers
- 50-300 employees
Enterprise
Characteristics
- Revenue £30m+
- Multiple entities
- International business
- 5+ revenue streams
- 600+ customers
- 300+ employees
- Different divisional and legal entity view