Particular challenges in startups include scalable business models, rapid growth cycles, funding, KPIs and investor reportings.
Finance is a less favored or uncomfortable topic, especially in startups that are not about finances. The energy flows into the idea, the product and the communication first – the next pitch deck must be prepared as well. But watch out!
If you don't know your finances right from the start and build scalable structures, you may experience one or two surprises while the company is growing.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to seek external advice on accounting and topics such as liquidity management, controlling and investor relations. Such as liquidity management, controlling or investor reporting.
This is where the interim accountant comes in.
“The best solution is often an interim accountant, a service many startup leaders don’t know exists”, says Magnus Bilke, CEO of DONE!Financials.
The accounting expert Magnus Bilke, who has more than ten years of experience with accounting for startups and ten years in tax offices, has 3 main reasons for an interim accountant in startups.
Part of the founder's business is to raise awareness of their idea to potential investors. A good and therefore successful pitch deck includes the company's facts and financial figures, of course. But existing investors also want to see reporting in regular intervals. Often the reputation figures are kind of glossed over. Obviously, there is need for money and an ongoing cash flow. It’s a must to exist and to grow.
An interim accountant, as an external person increases trust and credibility towards investors as well as a further contact person for financing rounds.
There are times when difficult decisions are required to be made on a financial basis. Whether internally or externally. Before every major decision, it helps to switch perspectives consciously, but also to search for a solution with external advice and an external opinion.
This could be low hierarchies, personal connections or the emotional attachment to the company's own product. All this influences decisions and not always in a good way.
With an external "bad cop", you can create a more neutral view of things and leave the inconvenient tasks to this person.
It is often felt a good idea to use external consultants for the financial parts in order to avoid the corporate "blindfold". The interim manager can take into account the specifics of the company. However, his or her experience out of prior missions allows him or her to bring in an external view on the company’s accounting systems and find potential improvements.
The interim accountant tweaks the cash flow, figures out what resources can be afforded and when to use them. He or she proposes when the next round of funding is needed and how much cash is needed for the next big milestone. Tweaking the cash flow helps to grow.
“Interim accounting comes at a price. That said, muddling through for months without accounting is eventually way more expensive”, says Done!Financials CEO Magnus Bilke.
Magnus has successfully worked over 10 years in tax consultancies and over 9 years in leading positions in Startups and has a pragmatic solution, for every accounting problem and knows what needs to be delivered to stakeholders.
He also has the best insights on how authorities and government institutions work and is able to spot even the smallest wrong decimal place.
Within the last two years he succeeded in building up a great team of different interim accountants. Our focus is to help startups with their finance matters. We offer everything about accounting, payroll, crisis management and controlling. But of course, we provide the moral support, too. Don’t stay helpless. LET'S CHAT!
Languages: German, English, Spanish
Magnus Bilke, Managing Director
