First accounts, filed

A UK technology company had built its product but not the finance function behind it.

This is a familiar early-stage gap. The business can be moving quickly while the financial foundations remain informal: accounts may be organised around transactions rather than management decisions, there may be no dependable monthly close, controls may not be clear, and the company may have little reporting it would be comfortable placing in front of an investor or lender.

The company needed more than first accounts. It needed a finance function it could run after the initial build was complete.

The SME CFO put the core finance function in place from the start: the chart of accounts, controls, monthly close, and reporting. We also delivered the company’s first year-end accounts and HMRC filing.

• We designed the chart of accounts around how the company generates revenue, incurs cost, and needs to assess performance, rather than simply around statutory reporting lines.
• We set out the monthly close process, including the information required, responsibilities, reconciliations, review points, and timetable needed to produce reliable numbers.
• We established practical controls over spending, record-keeping, approvals, and financial review appropriate to the stage of the company.
• We prepared reporting that gave management a view of financial performance, cash, and key issues between year-ends, and enabled the team to maintain the process after the engagement.

The engagement left the company with a finance function it could run and reporting it could put in front of an investor or lender.

Its first year-end accounts and HMRC filing were completed. Just as important, finance was no longer a set of tasks done only when someone asked; it had a real structure and a reporting standard that could stand up to outside scrutiny.

The company was better placed to assess performance, manage its financial responsibilities, and enter investor or lending conversations with reporting that reflected a functioning finance operation.