BigCommerce, a leading ecommerce software provider serving over 50,000 customers, was on a phenomenal growth trajectory, securing a $75 million funding round.
To sustain this momentum, CFO Robert Alvarez recognized the need for a professionally managed, scalable financial infrastructure that could support rapid expansion and investor demands, leading him to partner with Consero Global.
The Need for A Scalable Financial Backbone
Rapid growth and investor expectations demanded reliable, timely, and insightful financials.
BigCommerce’s previous accounting system was a mix of internal and external providers that lacked the infrastructure for high-growth demands.
- The company operated on a cash basis, which was unsuitable for producing investor-friendly financials needed to gauge the health of the business.
- A basic general ledger system resulted in questionable data quality and a lack of transparency in financial reporting.
- Core challenges included saving time, gaining insightful information, ensuring transparency, and maintaining scalability through rapid growth.
“As a fast-growth company with investors, one of our biggest issues is: how to move as quickly as possible from where we are, to where we need to be,” said Alvarez.
Solution: A Fully-Managed, Investor-ready Finance Function
Consero implemented a robust solution to professionalize the finance function.
- Consero replaced patchwork processes with a fully outsourced, standardized, and scalable operation aligned to investor needs.
- Moved BigCommerce from cash to accrual accounting to produce investor-friendly financials.
- Implemented standardized processes, a scalable finance application, and a dedicated team with a close working relationship.
- Fully managed delivery of timely and accurate financial statements and took control over complicated cash management.
- Transitioned invoicing and reconciliation processes to Consero’s team.
“Consero cleared the way for us by saving time, providing scalability, and more efficiency in our business processes,” said Alvarez.
Scalability Without Increasing Headcount
For a company adding hundreds of employees in just two years, scaling the finance department efficiently was a crucial challenge.
As transactions and headcount surged, Consero provided the tools and resources to help BigCommerce work smarter, not just bigger.
- Kept finance and accounting expenses flatter by leveraging Consero’s tools and resources instead of adding internal headcount.
- Completely streamlined Accounts Payable—automated and electronic for efficiency.
- Leveraged credit card reconciliation tools to post within the month-end close timeline while maintaining standard turnaround times.
Turning Data into Decisions
To maintain its competitive edge, BigCommerce needed to focus on high-level strategy, which required freeing the CFO from day-to-day operational hurdles.
- The company struggled to easily measure critical subscription-based metrics like customer churn and acquisition costs.
- The CFO’s time was at risk of being diverted from strategic objectives to fixing foundational accounting issues.
- Building a comparable in-house finance team was estimated to take at least a year and cost 40% more, delaying critical progress.
“As we grow, one of the big challenges for companies like us… is how to get metrics for things like churn (customer turnover), customer acquisition costs, and things like that. Consero helped us to put mechanisms in place so we could measure critical metrics in a more automated fashion,” said Alvarez.
Consero delivered the visibility and metrics required to run a fast-moving subscription-revenue model and cleared the way for the CFO to focus on growth.
- Implemented mechanisms to measure and report on critical business metrics in a more automated fashion.
- Delivered a complete, scalable finance solution in only four months, getting BigCommerce the capabilities it needed at the speed investors required.
- Saved the company significant time and money, allowing leadership to focus energy on addressing the high-level issues essential for continued expansion.
Results: Speed + Cost Efficiency Cleared the Way
Consero enabled BigCommerce to move faster and more cost-effectively than building an in-house team. Alvarez noted:
“If I had built out my own in-house finance team… it would have cost us 40% more than having Consero do it and it would have taken us at least a year… they gave us the scalability we needed and got the job done in only four months.”
- Achieved the target finance operating model in four months versus at least a year for an internal build.
- Delivered approximately 40% cost savings compared to creating an internal finance team and systems.
- Cleared obstacles that would have slowed growth, allowing the CFO to focus on higher-level strategic issues.
- Supported aggressive sales and financing goals, including a $75 million raise
Is your business navigating similar growth challenges or seeking to optimize its financial functions for investor appeal?
Get in touch with Consero. We’ll implement a scalable, accurate, and insightful finance solution that empowers strategic success.
