Sage Intacct’s 6 Key Performance Metrics For Subscription Businesses [INFOGRAPHIC]

by Tara Fusco | Oct 29, 2020 | Accounting, Analytics, Blog, Budgeting, Business Intelligence, CFO, CPA, Entrepreneurs, Growth, Intacct, Planning, SaaS, SMBs, Software, Startups, Technology

How Healthy Is Your SaaS Business? These 6 Metrics Will Help You Figure That Out

As a Sage Intacct certified accounting and implementation firm, Lavoie CPA is excited to share the latest findings for SaaS businesses to become successful in 2021.

From startups to organizations ready to scale each one of these indicators is an invaluable piece of information to evaluate your company’s overall health — not to mention prep you for that looming board meeting in the near future.

In this infographic we will dive into why each of these metrics is the difference between getting your next round of funding, scaling year over year, or hitting the wall.

Get the infographic and learn why you should care, how to calculate, and an interesting fact about the following KPIs:

CARR (Committed Annual Recurring Revenue)
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value)
Churn
Free Cash Flow
CCS (Cash Conversion Score)

DOWNLOAD THE INFOGRAPHIC

A CPA firm that does NOT provide Tax or Audit services?

by Mark Colwell | Feb 4, 2020 | Accounting, Big Data, Blog, CFO, Cloud, CPA, Finance, Financial Services, Metrics, Outsourcing, SMBs, Software, Startups, Technology

The value in not providing traditional accounting services

When most people hear CPA they immediately think tax and audit. Lavoie CPA does NOT provide either service. So, what do we do? We provide world class accounting bundled with leading accounting technology and Outsourced Accounting (Accounting as a Service) to help our clients succeed . But why don’t we provide tax or financial audit services?

Our focus is helping grow your business. We provide financial intelligence you can rely on to make informed financial decisions.
We don’t want to become tax experts. Staying on top of changes to tax laws and regulations is an exhaustive process. We rather partner with tax professionals and focus on what we do best – help grow your business!
We can’t audit ourselves. Since we provide leading finance and accounting services, we can’t audit our own work. However, our clients are always audit ready!

Why do clients come to Lavoie CPA since we don’t do tax or audit?

We help grow sales.
We turn finance into a strategic asset.
We keep cost under control.
We eliminate distractions and let our clients focus on what they do best.

Want to learn more?

4 Things all Startups should consider Outsourcing

by Mark Colwell | Jun 13, 2018 | Blog, Accounting, Cashflow, Cloud, CPA, Finance, Growth, Outsourcing, Software, Startups, Technology

Founders create businesses because they have a passion or expertise in providing particular goods or services to market and often get caught up on focusing on items outside of their expertise. Being a startup means there’s always more work to do, and not enough time to do it. It is easy to get caught in numerous non-value add tasks that take anyway from working on the business. That’s why most success startups outsource certain tasks to companies or individuals who specialize in providing valuable time-saving services for a fee.

With all the advancements in technology, it’s easier and more convenient than ever to outsource. Here are five things you should consider outsourcing to experts.

1. Accounting & Finance Firms
Most entrepreneurs are not Accountants. However, understanding cash flows or analyzing profitability of a business is vital to its success. Too often startups neglect building an accounting process until profits go downhill or cash slowly drains away. Setting up an accounting process for your startup is critical to the long-term success. An accounting process is also important because it allows your business to look forward. Startups or small businesses that that don’t have an accounting process in place find themselves trapped by past actions or constantly worried about having enough money to pay bills.

In addition to accounting process, setting up an accounting system is important for your startup as it will allow you to see how your business is doing and allow you to make decisions to strategically position your business for growth.

Look for an outsourced accounting firm that does more than just bookkeeping. Partnering with someone that goes beyond debits and credits and gives advice on such things as cashflow will help set you up for success. Technology is vital to help provide necessary insights.

2. Graphic Design and Web Development.
Coming up with a brand-defining logo, an attractive website, and print materials can be extremely time consuming and difficult to get right. Using a professional graphic designer will help your business look its best. They understand a lot of things that you may overlook. Whatever your goals, there’s a graphic designer with the talent, aesthetic sensibilities, and visual skills to fulfill your vision and enhance your company brand.

Look for a graphic designer that offers web development to help streamline the process and provide a unified message.

3. Web Research.
Prospecting for new business and keeping up with the latest developments in your industry can be time consuming and daunting. A web researcher can research information you, whether it’s gathering information and statistics for an upcoming presentation or looking up the names of companies and contacts for a leads list. They can also organize this material in a form that’s easy to use and read.

4. Administrative Assistance.
If half your day is spent sifting through your overflowing email inbox, returning call and making travel arrangement, a virtual administrative assistant (VA) may be just what you need to streamline that frustrating process and keep you from being inundated by a constant stream of on administrative tasks that keep you from more value-added items.

Before you waste your time on something that is not in your expertise, consider outsourcing. This will make your to-do list shorter and free you up to focus on the things you’re best at and that generate the most income for your business.

5 Myths around Outsourcing Finance Functions

by Mark Colwell | Jan 22, 2018 | Accounting, Analytics, Big Data, Blog, Cashflow, CPA, ERP, Finance, Growth, Intacct, KPI, Outsourcing, Quickbooks, SaaS, Services, Small Business, SMBs, Software, Technology

Outsourced Accounting or Accounting as a Service (AaaS) providers can be the catalyst to take your organization to the next level. For some SMBs, accounting is not looked at as a strategic function of the organization, but it should be. It also shouldn’t take focus away from growing your core business. Lots of SMBs don’t consider Outsourcing. Here are 5 main reasons why.

1) They think it is too expensive

By using Accounting as a Service, you have access to shared service center. Providers have put a lot of investment, thought, and execution into their model and have staffed accordingly. With an AaaS provider you now have access to a full accounting department that often is less expensive than one full-time FTE. This doesn’t even figure in technology costs that come with the service.

2) It is the same as bookkeeping services

Bookkeepers are responsible for recording daily financial transactions. Controllers are responsible for financial reporting, internal financial audit and internal controls. Outsourced CFOs are responsible for financial planning, financial data analysis and strategic planning. By relying only upon a bookkeeper you are stuck looking in the past and cannot see into the future to effectively make critical decisions for your business. AaaS providers ensure daily transactions are done correctly but also greatly reduce risks and provide necessary forward-thinking strategy to help growth your business.

3) We can just do the same in-house

For most SMBs it is hard to justify the expense of having a bookkeeper, controller, VP of finance and CFO. All positions have importance. You don’t want to pay a senior level person to do daily transactions and you definitely don’t want to ask an entry level person to manage financial risks.

4) We cannot have any finance staff in-house

Often AaaS providers work with internal staff to fill voids. Yes, providers can function as the entire finance department but often work with existing staff to help maximize their production.

5) We have more control and stability by utilizing in-house staff

Employees turnover and training are always on the minds of companies. If you don’t have a defined professional develop plan for each employee, you are at risk of losing your top talent to other opportunities. By using an AaaS provider you eliminate the risk of employee turnover. You also will not miss a beat when people people are out sick, on vacation, or on leave.

What do I get with an AaaS?

Enterprise software platform (workflow, automation, dashboards etc)
Vendors paid on-time
Customers billed on-time and accurately
Employee expenses captured and reimbursed
Cash transactions reconciled
Timely payables collection
Accounts analyzed and reconciled on an ongoing basis
Financial and management reports delivered on-time and accurately
Scalability and rapid deployment, when needed
Regulatory compliance delivered
Audit ready
A finance and accounting function that is STRATEGIC

Our CPA Day of Service

by Mark Colwell | Sep 27, 2017 | Corporate Social Responsibility, Accounting, CPA, Finance, Lavoie

For the last six years, the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA) have challenged its members to give back to the community by participating in the CPA Day of Service. The idea came originally from one of NCACPA’s Board of Directors to allow members to “take to their communities and give back in some way”.

As a member of the NCACPA and the Charlotte community, we have made it a priority to participate in this event every year by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, one of the global nonprofit housing organizations in the US. The organization works toward helping people in the community to build or improve a home and they rely on volunteers to be able to do so.

“Everyone deserves to have a place to call their own regardless of their income level. Affordable housing is pivotal to reducing poverty in Charlotte and beyond. Habitat for Humanity Charlotte provides the hand-up needed by thousands of local and global families. We always look forward to spending the day with the wonderful people at Habitat ReStore and doing our part towards being a part of the solution. Shopping afterwards is always an added perk! I always find something there!”

– Sharai Lavoie, CEO and Managing Member at Lavoie CPA.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

On Friday, September 22, all our employees met up at one of the two Habitat ReStores, which functions as the fundraising division of Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte. The ReStores accept donations of new or used items and resells them to the public at a reduced cost. Consequently, Habitat can use the proceeds to build Habitat homes with their local affiliates. There are currently two locations in Charlotte, NC, which allows Habitat to build approximately 10-12 new homes every year.

Volunteers are necessary for Habitat’s success and when it comes to the ReStores they are mostly in need to people to help them with unloading donated items, organizing and cleaning donations, placing the items on the sales floor, and aiding customers with carry-outs of purchased items.

“We had a very rewarding time helping the community and bonding with our Lavoie CPA Team. Habitat is a great organization that helps struggling family’s get on their feet through volunteers and the family working together”

– Doug Burkhart, Senior Financial Consultant at Lavoie CPA

Thank you to Habitat for Humanity for letting us be a part of your mission and giving back. If you are interested in volunteering please visit the Charlotte ReStore website or email the Volunteer Coordinator of Retail Operations at volunteer@charlotterestore.org.

Cloud Accounting Software: Ultimate Guide

by Madeleine Wallmon | Jul 20, 2017 | Accounting, Cloud, CPA, SaaS, Software, Technology

What is Cloud Accounting?

Intuit’s eBook “The Appification of Small Business” projects that 78% of small businesses will depend on cloud technology in 2020. Furthermore, Technavio’s report on the global business accounting software market 2017-2021 estimates that the market size will grow to $4.1 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of more than 6% over the period. Hence, the cloud is growing at a rapid speed, and the accounting industry is not an exception.

So what is cloud accounting? Cloud accounting simply refers to accounting software that sends, processes and stores data off-premises (in the cloud), rather than the traditional accounting software approach with on-premise hosting. Thus, the cloud is essentially a metaphor for the Internet. There are many benefits with this approach, but one of the main ones is that it allows an employee to access data from anywhere, anytime and any device, granted that you have access to the Internet.

Cloud accounting software can be used in-house by employees, purchased from a third-party or outsourced accounting in a hybrid model. Additionally, the most common model that cloud providers offer is “pay-as-you-go”, subscription based, where businesses only pay for the services they use and can upgrade to meet their needs as they grow.

What are the Main Functions of Cloud Accounting Software?

Cloud accounting software can perform many different functions, depending on the needs of your business and what type of software provider you choose. Most commonly though, accounting software can perform the following functions:

Accounts receivable
Accounts payable
General ledger
Billing
Stock/inventory
Purchase order
Sales order

Moreover, cloud accounting software providers can also offer a mix of the following functions:

Expense reporting
Time-sheet tracking
Sales tax
Payroll
Reconciliation
Reports

Types of Cloud Accounting Software

Cloud accounting software is a solution that works for many different types of businesses; startups, early-stage companies, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), and high end market corporations. One of the main advantages of cloud software is that businesses can choose what services they need and easily scale if they have growing needs. On the low end, businesses may simply need the software for basic accounting tasks, while on the high-end, corporations invest in accounting software that is ultimately an integrated part of an extensive suite of software called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

What are the Benefits of Cloud Accounting Software?

1. Remote Access

As Internet access continues to grow worldwide, remote access is becoming an especially important benefit of cloud accounting software. Visual Networking Forecast (VNI) has been tracking Internet growth for over a decade, and estimates that by 2020 over 4 billion people will be using the Internet. While forecasting is difficult, VNI has historically predicted within 10% of actual growth rates. The cloud allows employees to access data, via the Internet, from basically anywhere. This is a huge advantage for businesses who have employees that work in multiple locations or are often travelling.

2. Automated Processes

Automation is a huge benefit and opportunity for accountants because it allows them to focus on more important business tasks than manual and time-consuming processes such as data entering. Technology has disrupted manual processes and made the profession more efficient and strategic. As a result of automation, data is collected faster, which ultimately allows employees to have more insights and make quicker decisions. Accountants that are willing to embrace technology will, consequently, be able to take on more strategic roles in the future and benefit from automation.

3. Cost Saving

The cloud is disrupting the software industry. Since you only pay for the services you use, most providers offer clients a subscription model with monthly payment installments. As a result, customers are able to get the latest software for a minimal cost and the ability to scale if they have a growing demand of services. With cloud software, customers don’t have to worry about maintenance and update costs because those are managed by the provider. The cloud has essentially empowered customers by giving them a more affordable way to access the latest software.

In conclusion, cloud accounting software is an incredibly powerful tool that can give any business, regardless of size, a huge advantage in decision-making, efficiency and cost reduction. If you are interested in learning more about technology in the accounting industry, check out the related blog posts below.

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