Controller moves her role from transactional to strategic and carves a path for professional growth

Michele Iovino is the Senior Controller for RightNetworks, a SaaS company with 350 employees in Hudson, New Hampshire. Like many SaaS companies, they are private equity-backed and growing through acquisition.

The Goal:

The company was experiencing rapid growth and future acquisitions were part of their growth strategy. After the initial acquisitions, it was clear that the finance function was stretched. At that time, they knew it was necessary to address the finance function. The finance team needed to change their internal processes so they could scale as the company grew. The goal was to have one streamlined process for all entities.

The Challenge:

Using various QuickBooks files and having to add another process every time they added more companies was not scalable. Consero’s SIMPL software stack which includes Sage Intacct as a General Ledger allowed them to get one streamlined chart of accounts across all entities. Consero mapped and defined one process so Michele could think about the company more holistically. After implementation, all processes where functional, as a whole, for all entities that they brought on.

Consero’s Impact:

Like many Controllers, Michele’s role was very centered on repetitive transactions. She was going through the repetitive steps to close the books and deliver timely financials to the executives. After implementing Consero, her checklist became automated. This freed up her time so she could add value to the strategic initiatives that were in alignment with goals of their PE sponsor. She had time to focus on the month-end close from an operational standpoint and also move into forecasting, budgeting and more. She recognizes that working with Consero has opened the door for her career growth.

Recommending Consero and Career Growth:

When Michele originally thought about Finance as a Service and bringing on Consero, she was only thinking about typical back-office transactional work like AP/AR. She quickly realized that working with Consero means you have an extended finance & accounting team. Everyone works as a collective group towards the overreaching goals. She has confidence that she can let go of transactional areas and grow operationally and strategically. Consero has enabled Michele to both improve herself and her career.