Consero recently hosted a virtual event in which two of our clients shared their experiences and insights on how they transformed their finance functions into agile, cost-effective powerhouses using Finance as a Service (FaaS).
FaaS is an alternative to building an in-house finance and accounting team, delivering greater financial visibility and improved operational scalability along with a lower and more predictable cost structure. It includes a fully integrated software platform, transactional accounting, controller-level compliance and reporting, financial planning and analysis, and strategic CFO support.
FaaS Helps Synacor Transition from Public to Private
| Synacor Background
| Consero Partnership Results
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Ellen Purdy is a seven-time Private Equity-backed CFO. When Ellen joined Synacor, a cloud-based software and services company, as CFO in 2021, the company was in the process of transitioning from public to private. During this process, they sold a product line that accounted for one-third of the company’s revenue.
A new CEO joined Synacor at this same time who had experience working with Consero and FaaS. “This required a scalable accounting infrastructure to continue growth as a private company, along with new revenue recognition to improve accuracy and efficiency.”
The decision was made to downsize Synacor’s finance and accounting staff from eight people to two people, plus the CFO, and outsource finance and accounting to Consero. “I had never outsourced finance and accounting or done FaaS but I knew it made sense for us and I wanted to learn how to do it,” says Purdy.
Purdy says Synacor had a plan for which functions and positions to retain and which ones to let go, but things didn’t go according to plan. “Some employees left sooner than expected and some who we wanted to stay left, including the controller,” she says. “Consero essentially trained me on the job and filled in all the pieces. The process has gone incredibly well.”
In year two, they are tracking for even bigger savings. “Now it’s just as much about optimizing, increasing efficiency and continuous improvement as it is about cost savings,” says Purdy.
For example, Synacor originally continued using the expense reporting system and contract module it was using before moving to Consero. But they’re now implementing a project plan to move these to the Consero module. “This will result in fewer human errors and also free up staff to spend more time on value-added tasks,” says Purdy.
