5 Common Mistakes PE-Backed Companies Make in Finance & Accounting [+ How to Fix]

Updated: May 20, 2025

Private Equity firms need the Finance & Accounting team to deliver clear insights quickly. But too often, they are re-creating the wheel—implementing software, hiring professionals and building reports. Time is wasted and opportunities are missed.

To be successful, the finance & accounting function of Private Equity portfolio companies should create value. A strategic CFO should provide the “Voice of Finance” that permeates throughout the business. Key functions like processing transactions, closing the books and producing internal/external reporting should all be efficient. And those efficiencies should drive the relative cost of the finance & accounting function down as the organization scales up.

In this eBook, we’ll explain the common mistakes to help you identify potential failure points. We’ll provide insights into how they can be resolved so you can begin getting more value out of the finance function. And we’ll show you how the finance function can provide the foundation to build for the future and guide the business strategically.

 Five Common Mistakes:

  • Misaligned skill sets in finance & accounting
  • Re-creating the finance & accounting wheel
  • Disconnected finance & accounting systems
  • Processes that won’t scale
  • Buried information

 The Fix: Driving efficiencies through automation and AI with Finance as a Service

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Collective Group

Learn how the Collective Group overcame turnover challenges with outsourcing.

Finance as a Service

Cutting edge technology, processes, and people in a fully-managed solution to deliver precise financial visibility and improved operational scalability, plus a lower and more predictable cost structure. 

Flex Finance

Keep your existing technology and processes. We can manage the back-office F&A function from end-to-end process, including closing the books. When you need skilled talent, we can supplement your F&A team.

Advisory Services

Expert advice and strategies to help you grow.

• CFO Advisory Services
• FP&A and Reporting
• Technical Accounting & Clean-Up
• Business Process and Technology Transformation

Consero FaaS: Disrupting the Outdated Traditional F&A Model

Transformation
  • Cash to GAAP conversion
  • Clean-up work
  • Interim oversight & support
  • Accounting software Implementation

Build it Yourself Solution

  • CFO / Interim CFO
  • Consultants / VARs

Consero FaaS Solution

  • CFO / Interim CFO
  • or Consero Interim CFO
  • Consero Setup/Transformation
Ongoing F&A
  • Monthly financials
  • Daily accounting support
  • Management reporting
  • Integrate add-on acquisitions

Build it Yourself Solution

  • CFO
  • Controllers & Accounting Team
  • Enterprise Accounting Applications

Consero FaaS Solution

  • CFO
  • or Consero Fractional CFO
  • Consero FaaS Enterprise F&A Software and Services

New PE Platform Investment F&A Challenges

Founder Owned Company Accounting:
  • Existing accounting done on a cash/hybrid basis
  • Run on SMB accounting software and other disparate applications
  • Inability to produce auditable financials
  • Lack of know-how to develop projections & KPIs
  • No consistency/structure to customer contracts
  • Underqualified staff
  • Non-scalable manual processes
Carve-Out Accounting:
  • Required to move off parent company accounting applications in a timely fashion
  • Have to build an entire F&A team
  • No documented operational policies and procedures
To Optimized Finance & Accounting:
  • Monthly financials available in 5-10 business days
  • Audit and diligence ready support details
  • Integrated enterprise grade accounting software
  • Budget and forecast reporting
  • Business KPIs
  • Efficient & scalable processes for rolling in add-ons