James Navin

I've been a bit surprised recently with the number of decent-sized software businesses (i.e. $15M+) that don't have a legitimate VP of Finance or CFO on their leadership team. I think some product and/or industry-expert founders and CEOs view finance as simply "accounting" vs. a strategic partner to help them properly scale the business. This seems to particularly be the case with first-time CEOs. They likely haven't seen "what good looks like" when it comes to a finance leader and the positive impact they can have, so they hire an outside firm or individual to manage their finances...treating it like a "necessary evil." The role is far more critical than that. I've found that the right CFO is a fact-based, unemotional partner and sounding-board for the CEO, and an invaluable resource to other members of the leadership team as they determine strategy, budgets, etc. Plus, referring back to another recent post of mine (https://lnkd.in/eTjvqdnv), having the right CFO allows your company to better represent itself and speak the language of your investor / buyer. P.S. I was fortunate to have two strong partners as CFO at Daxko. Jonathan Sides and Winston Gillum both made a world of difference!

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Acquisitions are an exciting, often nerve-wracking step in a business's journey. They signal growth, success, and the promise of something greater but also demand preparation. Signs You Might Be Ready: 1️⃣🟢 Strong Financial Records: One of the most telling signs that you're ready for acquisition is having organized, reliable financial records. A potential buyer will want to see a clear picture of your company's financial health, including revenue, expenses, liabilities, and profitability. If discrepancies exist between your accounting records and operational contracts, you may need assistance to get your books in order. Missing stock option entries, unrecorded leases, or misplaced contracts can be significant red flags during the acquisition process. 2️⃣🟢 Sufficient Data Room: Another indicator of readiness is having a well-constructed data room. A data room contains all relevant documents that a prospective buyer might want to review, such as contracts, financial statements, tax returns, and corporate records. Ensuring all contracts are appropriately manifested and all liabilities are accounted for is crucial. Buyers may use any lack of documentation against you during negotiations. 3️⃣🟢 Aligned Departments: Often, when businesses are running at full speed, internal miscommunication can occur, especially between sales, executives, and accounting. If your sales team has closed deals or executives have made compensation promises that aren't communicated to accounting, your financial records could be incomplete. Aligning these departments is critical to presenting a united and accurate financial story to potential buyers. Steps to Prepare for Acquisition: 1️⃣🛠️ Identify Gaps: Start by identifying gaps in your financial records or processes that might impact your valuation. This can include everything from discrepancies in revenue recognition to improperly amortized loans. Addressing these gaps is essential for ensuring your financials are rock solid and won't cause issues during negotiations. 2️⃣🛠️ Clean Up Liabilities: Make sure any accruals, such as lease liabilities or employee benefits, are fully recognized in your financials. Buyers often scrutinize liabilities, and anything that isn't properly documented could become a point of contention. The goal is to leave no surprises for potential buyers. 3️⃣🛠️ Document Everything: Proper documentation is critical. Make sure every contract, lease, guarantee, and compensation promise is accurately recorded and included in the data room. Buyers are thorough in their due diligence, and missing information can make them question the integrity of your business. Acquisition preparation is about more than having strong sales or a promising product. It requires airtight financial records, complete documentation, and a thorough understanding of your business's agreements and implied risks. Address these areas before acquisition discussions to ensure the best outcome.

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Manual processes can eat up hours of an accountant’s day—time that could be spent advising clients and growing your practice. What if you could: ✅ Automate document requests (no more chasing W9s or receipts!) ✅ Categorize transactions with ease ✅ Turn financial data into stunning client dashboards The year-end crunch is coming—now’s the time to streamline your workflow and focus on what matters most. 📅 Join our free webinar on December 12th at 2 PM ET to learn how Uncat and Reach Reporting can help you save time, increase efficiency, and scale with smarter automation. 👉 Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gMSgkGHN #Accounting #Automation #WorkflowEfficiency #DocumentManagement #Webinar

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🔍✨ Unlock the Secrets to Innovation Savings! ✨🔍 🌟 Struggling with the California R&D Sales and Use Tax Exemption? We've got you covered! Our comprehensive step-by-step guide will demystify the process and help you save big on your groundbreaking projects. 🚀💰 Read more. Tap into expert insights and streamline your R&D journey. Ready to boost your bottom line? Dive in now and make your innovation dreams a reality! 📚🔧 @hitollc.com | 949.876.8420 #TaxTips #Innovation #California #RDSalesTax #SaveMoney #ResearchAndDevelopment

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Demystifying the C-Suite… 🚀 Secret to successfully scaling your business I am always surprised at how confused management teams are about the role of each c-suite member. Ok, so the CFO may be more obvious - tracking the $$$ But what about the CEO vs COO??? Regardless of the size of a business, we like having both a CEO and COO. It’s the secret to successfully growing your business. 🚀 ❌ We have found that if the CEO is handling all operational issues, the business stagnates… As I like to say, the CEO should be working ON the business, while the COO is working IN the business. The CEO can't do both. So… ✅ CEO needs to focus on strategy, growth and clients ✅ COO makes sure the company is executing seamlessly - operations ✅ CFO makes sure we are making money! What does your management team look like? BTW, don’t forget about your CHRO, without the right people, you are sure to fail!

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VC Market Update: Riding Out the Post-Boom Bumps. 2021's high-flying valuations and growth have given way to a more complex reality. With longer private timelines, tough exit markets, and capital tightness, startups face unique challenges—but also fresh opportunities. For those navigating today’s VC landscape, strategic planning is key. Whether it's balancing growth with capital efficiency or exploring secondaries smartly, there’s a path forward. And with boosts from AI and future rate cuts, brighter days could be ahead!

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We love seeing founders be able to keep their equity and take advantage of non-dilutive funding sources⚒️. We're excited to collaborate with Stacy Chin, PhD leader of KeepYourEquity.co, who has secured over $15M in SBIR/STTR grants for startups across various sectors. She's written a guest blog post sharing her insights on navigating the competitive landscape of grant funding 💰. Some highlights: ❇️ Understanding SBIR/STTR: A lifeline for startups, offering up to $2 million in non-dilutive funding! ⏺️ Learning how to overcome hurdles and capitalize on the golden opportunity. ❇️ Gaining essential tips on outlining your go-to-market strategy, choosing the right program, and preparing thoroughly. ⏺️ Benefiting from Stacy Chin's 10+ years of grant writing experience and her extensive track record in securing funding for startups. Read More in the blog post linked in the comment below 👇🏾 #SBIR #STTR #GrantFunding #StartupSuccess #SmallBusiness #KeepYourEquityCo #ShayCPA #cpafirm #techaccountants #startupaccountants #techstartup #techcompany #nondilutivefunding

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Are we super-heroes at Preferred CFO? You be the judge. We helped a client with over 400 employees & multiple headwinds...we raised $50M and the company is now thriving. Need private capital? We do all the work with no success fee or percentage of the deal. Hire a real superhero in our "pay as you go" model. #CapitalRaise #PrivateCapital #FractionalCFO #PrivateEquity #CFO

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KNOW YOUR REAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS • GAAP Revenue • Cash Flow • Cash • Contribution Margin • CAC • CAC Payback FUNDRAISING: PRESENT & SUBSTANTIATE FINANCIALS • Investor needs to know what your forecasts are • They need to believe them David Weiden, Khosla Ventures

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CPA firms often focus on day-to-day operations but miss the big picture. The real growth hack? A comprehensive strategy that covers everything from succession planning and mergers to outsourcing and strategic funding. With expert guidance in these areas, you’ll streamline operations, secure future leadership, and unlock new revenue streams—while maintaining a high level of service for your clients. Hack your growth by optimizing every aspect of your business strategy! #GrowthHack #CPAFirmGrowth #SuccessionPlanning #StrategicFunding #MergersAndAcquisitions #OutsourcingSolutions

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For those tax practitioners who are CPAs there has always been an unfair playing field on CPAs advertising, versus tax professionals in general. Tax professionals are unrestricted, able to make claims, as we can get you the highest refunds, at a minimum. But CPAs cannot make such claims. It appears that the AICPA and NATP have woken up and hopefully will address the disparity. Since I am not a tax practitioner, I hope all the CPAs who practice taxes can hold the AICPA and NATPs feet to the fire to help level the playing field. At C-Suite Support we can help you prepare tax packages and coordinate with your tax preparer to help them. We can also go through a checklist of items, based on your business, to make sure you are taking advantage of all the deductions available. Paul Whitley Taber Wetz Chris Gauvin Jayson Potts, MBA C-Suite Support

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✨ On the tax side, Mercury claimed a substantial R&D credit, but Christine Andrews, CPA wanted stronger documentation backed by granular data to make her confident the credit would withstand audit. On the accounting side, Mercury needed to start reporting on internally developed software (ASC 350-40) at a detailed level for their first year of audited financials. ✍ Both processes needed input from Mercury’s engineering team, but Christine wanted to improve on the traditional approach of creating separate, mostly redundant processes that wasted engineers’ time. 💡 Learn how Mercury used Neo.Tax to simplify both R&D and ASC in our newest Case Study 👉 https://lnkd.in/gjwAP92J

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TechCrunch broke news of an amazing #AI play with EGYM raising $200M at a $1.2B. What is amazing about this is that they are based in Europe, and they are actually generating meaningful revenue via their #AI play optimized for going to the gym as opposed to other plays that want you to work out at home. This will be a very interesting company to watch and should give #AI Investors pause for more generic plays that are 1) Raising more funds, 2) At higher valuations, 3) With less revenue. What do you think? #management #venturecapital #privateequity #capitalmarkets #ehealth

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EmergeOne CFOs have to be ready to handle anything, and sometimes, laughter is the best way to deal with the feels. Like if you're a fractional CFO and ever had any of these happen to you... 1. When your CEO asks for the monthly burn rate... just in case it changed in the last 24 hours 🤦‍♂️ 2. When the auditors ask for "just one more document" 🙄📁 3. When the board asks about our "path to profitability" 🤑💰 4. When the FP&A team asks for the 10th iteration of the budget 🤯📊 5. When the founder asks you to "just make the numbers work" 🙃💼 6. When an investor in your preseed startup asks if you've finally got to that sweet, sweet revenue 💰💸 7. When the team realises the financial forecast was just a "best guess" 🤔🔮 8. When you have to explain revenue recognition to the marketing team 📈🤷‍♀️ 9. When your cash flow statement looks like a rollercoaster ride 🎢💸 10. When you find out the new hire is a former accountant 🧮☠️ Seriously, if you're in need of a friendly neighbourhood CFO, call me, I don't bite🤙🏾

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Last year, the CPA-Zicklin Index had 100 Trendsetter companies. Will your company make the list in 2024? Reread the 2023 Index before the release of the 2024 CPA-Zicklin Index here: https://lnkd.in/e4M3PxRB

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As we approach year-end, here's a helpful guide for General Partners and Limited Partners explaining: - What gets taxed? - What isn't taxed? - Scheduling K-1s - How venture fund earnings are taxed - VC fund write-offs - How Carta can help Check it out below (it's a quick read)!

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🌱 For founders taking on venture debt, covenants are the fine print you cannot afford to ignore. 📃 They set the boundaries for how you can operate and manage your company’s finances. If you don’t play by these rules, the consequences can be pretty dire. It’s all about negotiating terms that align with your startup’s financial health. Be sure to read the original post by Kruze Consulting to get the full breakdown. Link in the 1st comment. 👇 #StartupFinance

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Doesn't appear to be anything nefarious here... Founders decide how to finance their business and are responsible for results. However, this does underscore the importance for founders to understand dilution. My article on the subject here: https://lnkd.in/ddWEMDhN

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