{"id":21563,"date":"2024-01-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=21563"},"modified":"2025-01-08T09:29:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T14:29:54","slug":"scaling-your-finance-operating-model-key-considerations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/scaling-your-finance-operating-model-key-considerations\/","title":{"rendered":"Can your finance operating model scale with you?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCan your finance operating model scale with you?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"David\t\t\t\tDavid Appel & Feyikemi Oniyitan<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As a SaaS CFO, there’s NOTHING better than achieving growth, right? You might think so, but failing to plan ahead and consider intelligent scalability can result in some serious problems. Your finance operating model is the key to reaping the rewards of SaaS growth without suffering the headaches that can come with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, we’ll 1) Discuss what a finance operating model is and how it contributes to your control environment and scalability, 2) Explore the key elements of an effective SaaS finance operating model, 3) Dive into the role of technology in crafting your operating model and discuss steps you can take to improve its scalability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re ready for pain-free SaaS growth, let’s get going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your needs evolve with your maturity stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As your company scales, your department’s financial processes and internal controls often need to grow more sophisticated in order to keep pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take invoice approvals, for instance. Manual approval chains might not take that much time when you’re only working with a couple of vendors. But what about 50 or 100?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, you’re looking at a significant chunk of wasted time and money for approval routings, and even risking manual errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same holds true of your forecasting, and other financial processes. Creating a manual forecast might not seem like a huge drag on your time and cash when you’re first starting out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once you’ve scaled and have to grapple with a massive amount of financial data, it’s a serious drain on time and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your SaaS business can only scale successfully if your framework for essential finance and accounting workflows can keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s a finance operating model?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A finance operating model is a strategic framework for the organization and execution of financial processes. It includes systems, controls, and workflows to support your financial management. Think of it as your finance and accounting setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your finance operating model determines how your data is collected, analyzed, and used for reporting, forecasting, and other tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you rely on spreadsheets and legacy tech for your finance and accounting workflows? Or have you embraced automation to maximize visibility, accuracy, and efficiency?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The purpose of an operating model is to ensure accuracy and efficiency in your financial processes. But going deeper than that, the real aim is to create a foundation of trust<\/strong> that you and other stakeholders can build on to achieve your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qualities of an effective SaaS finance operating model<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a finance leader, it’s important to step back and analyze your processes at a high level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Templates are useful in all kinds of scenarios, and your finance operating model is like a template for shaping your department’s workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An effective operating model prioritizes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n