by Sharai Lavoie | Sep 3, 2025 | Youth Sports Clubs
Managing a youth sports club means balancing coaching, tournaments, member outreach, and volumes of transactional data. When financial reports arrive weeks after the month-end, leadership operates with delayed information, which makes it difficult to quickly take corrective actions.
Unexpected cost overruns, enrollment dips, and budget variances can catch you off guard, undermining growth or allocating resources to ineffective programs.
In this post, we’ll walk through a blueprint for achieving financial clarity: from structuring your accounts to empowering every team member with their own dashboards.
1. Centralize Your Financial Infrastructure
Fragmented accounting and operational systems breed reporting delays and potentially financial uncertainty. We suggest youth sports clubs build a solid accounting and operational foundation that achieves the following:
- Integrates all transactions into one accounting platform, including membership fees, sponsorship payments, and vendor expenses. In such an environment, data should flow automatically and seamlessly from operational to financial systems so that there is no confusion about the source of truth for critical data.
- Align your chart of accounts and reporting dimensions with programs, locations, and cost centers. This ensures that every transaction maps to the right tournament, team, or event.
- Automate data syncs between your operational systems with the accounting system to reduce or eliminate manual exports and uploads.
- Create financial reports that align budgets and forecasts with the accounting results to streamline analysis after each month-end close.
Benefit: Centralization cuts manual reconciliations, freeing staff to focus on strategy rather than spreadsheets.
2. Design Driver-Based Budgets and Forecasts
Static, line-item budgets can quickly feel outdated. Instead, lean on the same dynamic approach:
- Map your true revenue drivers month-over-month. Capture not just total registrations, but the levers behind them, ad spend, event outreach, sponsorships, even conference meetings. In practice, you’d:
- Pull in your marketing spend as a distinct input (for example, “Ad dollars” colored blue so it’s never buried in a formula).
- Show that toggling ad spend on/off immediately shifts your projected revenue for that month by linking ad dollars to month-over-month revenue changes.
- Surface the story in your slides or investor packet: “When we paused ads in April, revenue dipped 8%, and resumed when ads restarted in May.”
- Adopt trigger-date inputs for timing-sensitive drivers.
- Define when a new program, pricing tier or sponsorship kicks in, then let your model automatically shift revenue accordingly. As Matt did with the pre-seed SaaS example, if your subscription launch moves from April 1 to June 1, revenue simply flows out two months later, no manual rewiring required.
- Use the same approach for evolving metrics like CAC: set a “Date ≥ Jan 1 2026 → CAC = $25,” and let the formulas handle the rest.
- Build in scenario analysis around three core inputs: time, price, and volume.
- Time: When will each driver come online? (Registration opens, coach clinics launch, sponsorship renewals.)
- Price: Will average program fees change mid-season? Color these cell inputs for clarity.
- Volume: How many registrations, coaches or sponsors do you expect? Twist this up or down to see immediate impacts.
- Together, these let you model “What if spring registrations drop by 15%?” or “What if a key sponsor delays payment by a month?” in seconds, ran multiple “what-if”s on advisor numbers and software features.
Benefit: By anchoring every forecast to discrete, easily-tweakable drivers, month over month, your club moves from guesswork to data-driven story-telling. You’ll back up each recommendation (“pause ads,” “add a sponsorship tier,” “delay new program launch”) with instant, numbers-based evidence, empowering proactive decisions instead of reactive firefighting.
The Financial Model That Gets You Funded: Build Investor-Ready Projections for Pre-Seed to Series A
3. Activate Live Financial Dashboards & Empower Coaches and Managers
Turn raw data into clear visuals and actionable ownership across your club:
- Custom, role-based views: Design dashboards that filter by club, program, location or coach, so each stakeholder sees exactly what matters to them. A program director can view spring registrations vs. budget, while the head coach monitors equipment spend in real time.
- Instant variance alerts: Configure alerts for revenue dips or expense spikes beyond set thresholds, and route them directly to the responsible manager’s dashboard. For example, if a team’s uniform costs exceed budget by 10%, the equipment manager is notified immediately to investigate.
- Drill-down analysis without Excel: Let managers click through anomalies, say, a sudden drop in membership fees, and see the underlying transactions. No more manual exports; just one click to trace an unexpected enrollment dip back to its source.
- Embedded P&L ownership: Give each program leader access to their own P&L dashboard with relevant metrics, revenues, costs, and net performance. When a youth soccer leader can see their program’s profitability live, they can adjust recruitment or pricing on the fly.
- Real-time budget adherence: Empower managers to monitor their budget vs. actuals throughout the season. If a registration drive underperforms, they can compare planned vs. actual driver inputs (e.g., ad spend, event fees) and recalibrate strategy before month-end.
- Collaborative accountability: By putting dashboards directly into the hands of every stakeholder, you elevate financial ownership across the organization. Program leaders aren’t just executing programs, they’re owners of their financial outcomes, driving smarter decisions and stronger growth.
4. Streamline Month-End Close
A drawn-out close cycle delays insights and ties up your finance team. To compress the close time to 3–5 days:
- Embed weekly checkpoints throughout the month. In these touchpoints, ensure that transactions are posted to the general ledger throughout the month, journal entries are timely reviewed, and key transactional accounts are reconciled.
- Automate reconciliations for key accounts, bank, credit card, and sponsorship receivables.
- Provide clear task lists and status dashboards to every team member involved.
Benefit: Faster closes mean leadership gets timely reports, enabling quicker corrective actions and more strategic planning.
By centralizing your financial systems, designing driver-based forecasts, activating live dashboards that equip coaches with their own P&L views, and compressing your month-end close, you transform finance from a rear-view exercise into a forward-looking growth engine. Youth sports clubs gain the agility to reallocate resources, adjust tactics mid-season, and keep every stakeholder aligned on real-time performance.
If you’re ready to eliminate surprises and lead your club with confidence, start the conversation.
by Sharai Lavoie | Jul 29, 2025 | Financial Services, Growth
Private equity firms are growth architects. They spot hidden potential, unlock value, and drive transformation across their portfolio. But to turn bold visions into sustainable results, there’s a critical foundation every growth journey needs: robust financial infrastructure.
Investing in the right financial systems isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about setting the stage for every success story a PE firm will create. Here’s why building modern financial infrastructure is one of the most strategic moves private equity leaders can make.
Turning Vision Into Reality: Financial Infrastructure as a Growth Engine
Every deal marks the start of a new chapter. The right financial infrastructure turns integration challenges into opportunities, empowering teams to collaborate, scale, and innovate faster than ever before. Rather than wrestling with outdated systems, private equity teams are free to focus on what really matters: accelerating growth, seizing opportunities, and delivering strong returns.
A modern financial foundation enables:
- Faster onboarding of acquisitions: Integrate new companies smoothly and confidently, supporting a “buy and build” strategies.
- Real-time insights: Give leaders the data they need to make agile, informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition.
- Scalable growth: Expand into new markets or business lines with confidence, knowing that the systems can support the journey.
Overcoming Barriers, Unlocking Potential
Legacy systems and manual processes might have served companies well in their early stages, but they can quickly become growth bottlenecks. By proactively upgrading a portfolio company’s financial infrastructure, PEs can unlock a host of strategic advantages:
- Accelerated Integrations: Standardized systems enable seamless onboarding of acquisitions, keeping teams focused on growth, not on fixing broken processes.
- Streamlined Reporting: Automation eliminates manual work and error-prone spreadsheets, delivering accurate, timely data that inspires confidence in both leadership and investors.
- Stronger Controls: Built-in compliance and risk management features protect investments and simplify audits or due diligence.
- Engaged Teams: User-friendly systems mean finance teams can focus on analysis and strategy, not endless spreadsheets.
Building for the Future: What Best-in-Class Infrastructure Looks Like
Forward-thinking private equity firms are already embracing modern finance technology to future-proof their portfolios. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Cloud-Based ERPs: Platforms like Sage Intacct bring together multi-entity management, real-time consolidation, and advanced analytics, all accessible anytime, anywhere.
- Automated Workflows: Tools for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and expense management free up time and reduce human error.
- Unified Data: Centralized platforms create a single source of truth, enabling collaboration and transparency across a portfolio of companies.
- Custom Dashboards: Tailored reporting keeps everyone aligned on key performance metrics, turning information into action.
The result? Portfolio companies that are better equipped to grow, adapt, and succeed.
How to Make the Shift: A Roadmap for PE Firms
Making the leap to a modern financial infrastructure is a strategic investment in the PE firm’s and their portfolio companies’ long-term success. Here’s how leading PE firms get started:
- Assess and Dream Big: Evaluate current systems and imagine what the ideal future state looks like. Where can technology empower the finance and accounting teams and unlock value?
- Prioritize for Impact: Focus on solutions that drive the biggest wins, like real-time consolidation, automation, and easy integration.
- Choose Partners Wisely: Work with advisors who understand both finance and technology. The right guidance can turn change management into a smooth, positive experience.
- Standardize for Scalability: Where possible, align portfolio companies on common platforms and processes. This streamlines integration and unlocks portfolio-wide insights.
- Celebrate Early Wins: Roll out improvements in stages, highlighting quick successes to build momentum and inspire teams across your organization.
The Upside: More Growth, More Value, More Confidence
Strong financial infrastructure isn’t just a box to check. It’s a launchpad for everything that PE firms, portfolio companies, and management teams want to achieve, making growth more predictable, integrations smoother, and the portfolio more attractive at exit. The message is clear: investing in a financial foundation is investing in the long-term success of every deal.
Ready to give your portfolio the tools to grow with confidence? Start the conversation with Lavoie CPA to discover how the right financial infrastructure can help unlock new value and position your investments for a thriving future.
by Sharai Lavoie | Jul 15, 2025 | Uncategorized
If you’re preparing to sell your company, the groundwork you lay before the deal closes can impact the valuation and the success of the sale transaction. Particularly as it relates to private equity acquisitions, the sellers who command the highest multiples are the ones who are “platform companies” that are ready for growth and expansion.
Your accounting readiness requires having an infrastructure that can handle acquisitions, sales growth, and new customers, while also ensuring timely and accurate financial reporting.
At Lavoie CPA, we help business owners set the stage for success by building the systems, processes, and insights that private equity buyers value most. When you invest in scalable accounting solutions before you go to market, you’re showing buyers that your company is ready to lead, expand, and become the core of their future acquisitions.
Why A Solid Foundation Can Attain a Higher Valuation
A “platform company” provides the foundation for future acquisitions. Thus, any subsequent acquisitions will “bolt-on” to the platform company and oftentimes depend on the platform company’s infrastructure and systems as the combined companies integrate together.
From the lens of the private equity firm, the platforms consistently command higher valuations than bolt-ons because the former already have the infrastructure to support growth.
Our most forward-thinking clients understand that strong accounting processes are not just a box to check; they are the engine behind sustainable scale. By having the right systems in place before going to market, these companies position themselves for a smoother due diligence process, rapid expansion, and seamless integration with new acquisitions.
Consider this:
Hypothetically, if platform companies can achieve a valuation of 5-6x EBITDA, it would not be unusual to see bolt-on acquisitions attain multiples of 3-4x EBITDA. That 2x difference can mean millions of dollars in additional value for the seller.
The Real ROI: A Practical Example
Let’s say your company generates $8 million in annual EBITDA. You’re preparing for a private equity sale, and you know the market pays a premium for platforms.
- Platform acquisition: 6x EBITDA = $48 million valuation
- Add-on acquisition: 4x EBITDA = $32 million valuation
That’s a $16 million difference, just for having the right infrastructure in place.
Now, what does it cost to get there? If implementing and maintaining a best-in-class accounting system costs $250,000, your return on that investment is 64x. By investing in your accounting foundation up front, you don’t just make life easier for your team; you create tangible, outsized value that private equity buyers are actively seeking.
Beyond Due Diligence: Integration Drives Success
“Start the way you want to finish.”
These words shape how we work with our clients at Lavoie CPA. The most successful transactions are planned from the beginning with the end goal in mind. That means looking past the standard diligence checklist and considering the post-acquisition journey from day one.
We’ve seen acquisitions fail to deliver their promise when integration and system upgrades are treated as afterthoughts. On the other hand, our clients who prioritize scalable infrastructure and integration planning are rewarded with:
- Faster, more efficient due diligence processes
- Higher confidence and smoother transitions for management teams
- Reliable, actionable data for decision-making and reporting
- A reputation as a true “platform company” that investors trust
When you anticipate the need for stronger accounting processes, you can even negotiate improvements as part of the purchase price, or ensure the seller bears the cost of system upgrades. Either way, you control the process and maximize your ROI.
How to Build a Platform Company That Attracts Top Private Equity Buyers
The companies that stand out in today’s market are the ones that take action before the deal is even on the table. Here’s how you can position your business as the platform investors are looking for:
- Upgrade Your Accounting Infrastructure Early: Move beyond basic bookkeeping. Invest in a modern, cloud-based accounting system that can easily scale as your company grows and can support integrations with future acquisitions.
- Deliver Decision-Ready Reporting: Set up automated dashboards and real-time reports that offer clear, actionable insights, not just historical numbers. This gives investors immediate confidence in your data and your management.
- Design for Integration and Growth: Build processes and systems that don’t just work for your current operations, but are robust enough to absorb bolt-on acquisitions without missing a beat. Demonstrate that you’re already thinking ahead to the next phase of growth.
- Align Leadership and Teams for Expansion: Make sure your leadership team is prepared to manage change and scale. Encourage a mindset that prioritizes long-term vision, operational discipline, and readiness for the next opportunity.
By having this foundation in place before approaching the market, you’re not just preparing for due diligence, you’re proving that your company can lead, scale, and deliver real value to private equity partners from day one.
Ready to Build the Platform That Drive Financial Results
At Lavoie CPA, we help clients achieve their vision by designing financial infrastructures that drive value and growth, long before the deal is signed. If you’re ready to start where you want to finish, let’s work together to build your next level of greatness.
Start the conversation with Lavoie CPA today and discover how to elevate your readiness for due diligence, acquisitions and integration, and long-term value.
by Sharai Lavoie | Jul 15, 2025 | Financial Services
You’ve been working on your pitch deck for weeks, refining your story and perfecting your slides. But there’s one piece that keeps giving you anxiety: your financial model. When investors ask to see your projections, do you feel confident in what you’re showing them? Or do you worry that your forecast model might actually hurt your chances of getting funded?
If you’re in the latter camp, you’re not alone. Most founders struggle with building financial models that actually support their fundraising efforts instead of undermining them.
That’s exactly why our VP and Partner, Matt DeWald, recently teamed up with Charlotte Ketelaar from Capwave for an in-depth webinar on “The Financial Model That Gets You Funded.” If you missed the live session, we’ve embedded the full recording below—plus we’re sharing the key insights that can transform how you approach financial modeling for your company.
Why Your Financial Model Can Make or Break Your Fundraising
Here’s what Matt emphasized during the webinar: “Your financial model usually comes in after your pitch deck, but you really need to know your numbers at the time that you’re pitching.”
The problem most founders face isn’t that they don’t have a financial model—it’s that their model doesn’t align with their pitch deck story. When there’s a disconnect between what you’re promising and what your numbers show, investors notice immediately.
As Matt explained, “As soon as an investor sees your financial model and it all makes sense and everything falls into place, that’s when they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this founder knows exactly what they’re talking about.'”
The reality is simple: Many investors are finance people. They’ve seen hundreds of pitch decks and thousands of financial models. They know what realistic growth looks like, and they can spot unrealistic projections from a mile away.
The Framework That Actually Works: Matt’s Live Demo
During the webinar, Matt didn’t just talk theory—he showed exactly how to build a defensible financial model using a real pre-seed company example. Here’s what made that model work:
Show Your Work
“I think some of the worst case scenarios that I’ve seen are people who just put in revenue numbers without really understanding the drivers of that revenue,” Matt explained during the demo.
The solution? Make your assumptions visible and easily calculable.
In the live example:
- $25 per user subscription fee (clearly visible input)
- Specific trigger dates for when new features would launch
- Growth rates that decreased over time as market penetration increased
- All inputs color-coded so investors could easily identify and modify assumptions
When an investor wants to test what happens if your customer acquisition cost changes from $25 to $35, they should be able to make that change in one cell and see the impact throughout your entire model.
Focus on Real Business Drivers
The demo company built their model around specific, measurable drivers:
- Number of advisors using their platform
- Average transaction volume per advisor ($3,000 monthly)
- Commission rates tied to specific revenue streams
- Technology development milestones that unlocked new revenue
This wasn’t guesswork—each assumption had a logical basis that the founding team could defend to investors.
Plan Your Team Like You Mean It
One of the most valuable parts of Matt’s presentation focused on hiring plans. As he noted, “I’ve seen VCs really hone in on and really drill in on management and ask the question, who’s going to be your first 10 hires?”
The demo model included:
- Specific roles and start dates for each hire
- Salary levels and department allocations
- Payroll-related costs (that 15% for benefits and taxes most people forget)
- Commission structures for sales team members
The model even projected headcount by department and month—exactly what investors want to see when evaluating your use of funds.
Don’t Forget About Cash Flow
Here’s where many founders stumble. They build beautiful income statements but forget that cash flow is what actually matters for survival.
Matt’s model showed monthly cash flow projections, clearly identifying when the company would hit low cash points and need additional funding. “You want to make sure that you’re reconciling your forecast model into cash,” he emphasized.
The Technology Foundation: Start the Way You Want to Finish
One of the most practical insights from the webinar wasn’t about modeling—it was about the systems that support your model. Matt shared Lavoie’s philosophy: “Start the way you want to finish.”
The Problem with Basic Systems: Most startups begin with QuickBooks because it’s familiar and inexpensive. But as Matt revealed, “9 out of 10, maybe even 19 out of 20” of Lavoie’s new clients need immediate migration to more sophisticated systems.
The Better Approach: “Don’t wait for the wheels to fall off your accounting systems before you turn around and say, ‘Oh, I should have done this a while ago,'” Matt warned.
Almost all seed and pre-seed companies that work with Lavoie get migrated to Sage Intacct because it:
- Handles the volume and complexity of scaling companies
- Integrates KPIs directly into the accounting system
- Provides real-time dashboards for investor reporting
- Aligns with the detailed forecasting models that actually work
Real-World Application: What the Demo Revealed
During the live demonstration, Matt showed a complete financial model for a pre-seed software company. What made this model compelling wasn’t complexity—it was clarity and logic.
Revenue Model Highlights:
- Three distinct revenue streams launching at different times
- Clear trigger dates tied to technology development milestones
- Simple calculations that investors could easily understand and modify
Expense Planning That Makes Sense:
- Detailed hiring plan broken down by department (General & Administrative, Technology, Sales & Marketing)
- Specific start dates and salary levels for each role
- Automated commission calculations tied to revenue performance
Cash Flow Reality:
- Monthly projections showing exactly when funding would be needed
- Working capital considerations for accounts receivable timing
- Clear runway calculations based on actual burn rates
As Matt noted, “You want to keep this maintained as time goes on,” which is why the model was built to easily incorporate actual results alongside forecasts.
The Trust Factor: What We’re Really Selling
One of the most honest moments in the webinar came when Matt talked about Lavoie’s approach: “What we are selling at the end of the day is trust.”
That trust comes from understanding both the startup journey and investor expectations. Lavoie regularly helps companies scale from pre-revenue to over $3,000,000 in monthly revenue while maintaining streamlined financial processes.
Lavoie’s Partnership Approach:
- Lavoie becomes part of the team, not just a service provider
- Focus on building financial infrastructure that scales with growth
- Support throughout the entire fundraising and scaling journey
Key Takeaways for Building Your Financial Model
Whether you’re preparing for pre-seed or Series B, here are the critical principles Matt shared:
- Make assumptions visible and testable – Color-code inputs so investors can easily modify and understand them
- Link drivers to financial outcomes – Show exactly how your key metrics (conversion rates, CAC, churn) impact revenue and costs
- Plan expenses strategically – Your hiring plan should be more than “we’ll hire 10 people next year”
- Reconcile everything to cash – Income statements don’t keep you alive; cash flow does
- Keep it simple and defendable – Complexity doesn’t impress investors; clarity does
What Happens Next
The webinar made one thing clear: the founders who get funded are the ones who can clearly articulate how their ideas translate into sustainable, profitable businesses.
If you watched the webinar and realized your financial model needs work:
Start with an honest assessment – Can an investor easily understand your key assumptions and test different scenarios?
Focus on your real drivers – What specific metrics actually drive your revenue and costs?
Plan your systems – Are you building financial infrastructure that can scale with your ambitions?
Ready to build a financial model that actually gets you funded?
Matt emphasized during the webinar that building an effective model starts with understanding your business deeply. As he noted, “I probably spend two hours understanding the business, talking to them, understanding how it works, to one hour building the actual model.”
Start the Conversation to discuss your financial modeling needs and learn how Lavoie can support your fundraising journey. Whether you’re building your first model or preparing for Series B, we’ll help you create financial projections that tell your story convincingly.
Connect with Matt DeWald on LinkedIn for ongoing insights about financial management and fundraising best practices.
The right financial model doesn’t just help you raise money—it helps you build a business that’s actually worth investing in.
by Sharai Lavoie | Mar 14, 2025 | Small Business
Every business aspires to grow exponentially, but only a few unlock the formula to multiply their valuation by 10x. At Lavoie CPA, we specialize in transforming financial operations into engines of hyper growth. Achieving a 10x increase in valuation isn’t just about scaling revenue; it’s about building a foundation of efficiency, accuracy, and strategic foresight.
Here’s how modern financial systems, disciplined processes, and advanced accounting tools like Sage Intacct can help your company achieve this ambitious goal.
Having a 10x Mindset
To drive scale and efficiency, business owners must focus on sustainable growth, optimize financial operations, and build infrastructure that can support a rapidly increasing number of transactions and data. This hinges on four pillars:
- Connected Financial Systems
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Operational Discipline
- Investor-Grade Reporting
By integrating these elements, businesses position themselves for scalable growth and reporting, which are key traits that attract premium valuations, similar to companies like Zoom and Airbnb. To better understand what attracts investors, consider exploring The Top 10 Traits That Attract Investors To Your Startup.
1. Connected Accounting and Budgeting: The Backbone of 10x Growth
Disconnected financial systems create inefficiencies that stifle growth. Modern accounting ERPs like Sage Intacct unify accounting, budgeting, and forecasting into a single source of truth.
How It Supports Growth:
- Real-Time Visibility: Automate data flow with other systems (e.g., payroll, accounts payable, revenue systems) to eliminate manual errors and delays.
- Scenario Planning: Use predictive analytics to model growth scenarios and allocate resources strategically.
- Scalability: Cloud-based platforms adapt seamlessly as your business expands.
2. KPI Metrics and Tracking: Turning Data Into Action
Growth without measurement is guesswork. To achieve 10x growth, companies must track KPIs that align with valuation drivers, such as:
- Lifetime Value (LTV) to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Ratio
- Cash Burn Rate vs. Revenue Growth
- Gross Margin Efficiency
- Revenue Per Customer/Patient
By monitoring these metrics, leadership teams can pivot quickly and double down on high-impact initiatives. For instance, Airbnb achieved significant valuation milestones through effective KPI tracking. In fact, Airbnb’s remarkable journey demonstrates how strategic funding and operational metrics can lead to impressive valuations, as detailed in Airbnb Takes New Funding At A $10 Billion Valuation.
3. Discipline in Transactional Processing: The Silent Multiplier
Investors scrutinize operational rigor. Inefficiently or inaccurately processed accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), or payroll transactions signal risk.
How to Automate These Tasks:
- AP Automation: A tool like Bill streamlines invoice approvals and payments, reducing cycle times by 70%.
- AR Automation: Connect your CRM (such as Salesforce or HubSpot) to your accounting system to automate recurring revenue invoices, price increases, and other contractual terms.
- Payroll Accuracy: Platforms like Paycom and Gusto streamline recruiting, benefits, payroll, and payroll taxes, which are foundational for building employee trust and staying compliant.
- Expense Management: Ramp automates receipt tracking and can enforce budget controls, which limits the company’s financial exposure to errant or fraudulent charges.
- Transactional Interfaces: Datablend automates and simplifies transactional sorting and transformation by using a set of rules to post information to your accounting system.
- Contract and Lease Management: FinQuery helps companies manage and monitor leases, including complicated lease accounting requirements.
4. High-Quality Reporting: Winning Investor Confidence
Achieving a 10x increase in your company’s valuation demands investor-grade reporting. Tools like Sage Intacct enable:
- Real-Time Financial Statements: Deliver accurate P&L, balance sheets, and cash flow reports on demand.
- Audit Readiness: Maintain a clean audit trail with automated reconciliations through Blackline.
- Board-Level Insights: Use Workday Adaptive Planning to create forward-looking reports that highlight growth potential.
Transparent, data-rich reporting reassures investors that your growth is sustainable, and worth paying a premium for, as evidenced by companies like Uber. The volatility surrounding Uber’s IPO highlights the importance of maintaining investor confidence and operational transparency, as discussed in How the Promise of a $120 Billion Uber I.P.O. Evaporated.
Advantages of Leveraging Technology to Support Growth
- Faster Fundraising: Investors trust businesses with mature financial systems.
- Higher Margins: Automation reduces operational costs by 30 – 50%.
- Strategic Agility: Real-time data empowers proactive decisions.
Strategies to Implement Automation Effectively
- Adopt a Unified Tech Stack: Integrate tools like Sage Intacct, Bill, and BlackLine to close books 50% faster and with higher accuracy.
- Prioritize Automation: Start with high-volume tasks (e.g., accounts payable via Bill.com) to streamline work efforts and generate time savings.
- Train Teams on Data Literacy: Ensure finance and operations teams leverage dashboards effectively. Sage Intacct provides an excellent platform to share live reporting data with your company’s managers and executives.
- Evaluate Automation Opportunities: At least quarterly, evaluate where manual processes can be automated. Set up an action plan to automate time-wasting activities that can be converted into data-collection opportunities.
Exploring Business Models for Growth
Understanding various business models can significantly enhance your strategic approach. A scalable business model allows a company to increase its productivity and revenue without a corresponding increase in costs. This is vital for achieving sustainable growth as it helps in adapting to market demands efficiently. For more information on what makes a business model scalable, refer to What is a Scalable Business Model?. Additionally, for insights into different business models that can help increase profitability, check out 12 Successful Business Models to Help Make a Profit.
Final Thoughts
To achieve big results in your business, you need to think big. This includes having an integrated, cloud-based accounting environment that provides the foundation and infrastructure to support high growth. As we like to say, “Start the Way You Want to Finish.”
At Lavoie CPA, we partner with small- and medium-sized businesses to design tailored accounting systems that support their success.
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