Financial Reporting: Building a Strong Structure

Presentation by David Stack

CFO’s Role

❖ A critical aspect of a CFO’s role at a startup is facilitating the creation and implementation of a strong, comprehensive reporting structure.

Reporting Guidelines❖ This reporting algorithm

should evaluate the current health of the business by identifying key sensitivities in the business model, tracking progress in scaling the company, providing a useful dashboard for each separate department, and serving as a tool both the CEO and management team can use to grow the business.

Additionally, a great reporting package will allow you to analyze your current

data to identify upcoming trends.

#1. Current state of the business

❖ This includes fundamental metrics, like what it costs you to acquire a customer and what the lifetime value of your customer is.

#1. Current State of the Business

Comprehensive Reporting Package Details…

In the comprehensive reporting package you should show key financial statements, headcount vs budgeted hiring, bookings data, and other important metrics.

This will help everyone understand where you are today and how actual results compare to your short and long term goals.

#2. Key Sensitivities ❖ Do you know how much of an

impact reducing churn has on your recurring revenue?

❖ How about driving more productivity from your existing sales reps both today and as you scale up your sales organization?

❖ It is critical that everyone grasps the sensitivity of all the key business drivers in your organization.

#2. Key Sensitivities

Creating an effective financial model…

As a CFO, creating a financial model that captures all of these elements and allows you to clearly communicate the impact on key metrics is essential.

#3. Tracking Progress

❖ It is critical to establish a rhythm for monthly and quarterly reporting.

❖ Depending on the nature of your business, it might make more sense to report on a monthly basis vs quarterly, or vice versa.

#3. Tracking Progress

Monthly Reporting…

In any case, there should always be monthly reporting so that you can react to any trends that emerge and make wise decisions to impact your current quarter.

#4. Departmental Dashboards

❖ For departments, it is important to have high level metrics in the standard company reporting package.

#4. Departmental Dashboards

Company-level reporting…

Here, reports that cover the effectiveness of components like the Marketing and Sales funnel, customer retention metrics, engineering metrics, and hiring by department are essential, mostly because they allow the senior team to understand the metrics across each area within the company.

#4. Departmental Dashboards

Internal Reporting…

You should also have more detailed internal reporting for your department that compares the performance of your team each month and each quarter to the specific goals that you’ve set.

This dashboard will not only make it easier to evaluate the performance of your investments and team, but also fosters a collaborative environment as you work on allocating resources in the future.

5. Managing the Business❖ Is your reporting analysis a key

part of evaluating your strategy and its effectiveness?

❖ Does it play a key role in discussions with your BOD?

❖ Have you set up a recurring meeting in which your management team can discuss actual results and metrics along with reviewing long term strategy?

#5. Managing the Business

Key Structure Elements…

These are all key elements of the structure you should implement as you are scaling your business. A thoughtful and thorough approach to reporting should allow you to use your reports and data to manage your business and leverage that information when it comes time to report to the entire company and your Board of Directors.

#6. Evolving Indicator❖ One constant in your reporting

structure should be adaptation to changes in the business.

❖ Are you identifying emerging trends and escalating them to the right departments in your monthly reporting?

❖ By analyzing your core standard reporting and metrics, you can dig deeper into the data to evaluate emerging trends and pay them the attention they deserve.

#6. Evolving Indicator

Assessing an internal environment…

Understanding the impact of your organization’s channels, verticals, geography, usage, and other factors, will help develop a strategy for improvement and increase retention of existing customers.

This will also help you refine your ideal customer profile and lead to a more efficient sales and marketing process for growing your customer base.

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❖ David Stack is a chief financial officer with over 20 years of success in leading global financial operations for growing companies, particularly those in the software as a service (SaaS) industry. Having supported impressive growth and revenue generation at several startups and established companies, David Stack recently joined the company, Qstream, as new CFO, to facilitate their continued growth in the emerging sales performance analytics market.