Author Archives: Matt Smith

Regulatory Challenges in Fintech: Tackling Risks and Fundraising Complexities

Follow us on LinkedIn. In the early days, Fintech startups were proud to disrupt the financial services sector, unconstrained by regulatory requirements, stating, “We are tech companies, not financial institutions”, with funding in bountiful supply. Fast forward to 2023, and the picture is now very different, where managing regulatory risk and obtaining funding are the two biggest challenges facing Fintechs. This blog explores the regulatory risk facing Fintechs and how … Continue reading →

2023 Graduate Accounting Programme now OPEN for applications!

We are now recruiting for our 2023 Graduate Accounting Programme, with the Assessment Day being held sometime in early July. Do you want to…. Work with the fastest-growing, pioneering companies in the UK at the forefront of their technological field? Support some of the most innovative entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses? Join a talented, forward-thinking team fast-tracking their careers to become the finance directors of the future whilst learning from … Continue reading →

What Can a Fractional CFO Do for Your Business? Unlocking Growth and Financial Expertise

Growing a business isn’t easy, but without experienced financial know-how, it will be almost impossible. Most CEOs are great at disruptive thinking, growing the customer base, product development and the big picture but may need extra support with capital management and cash flow, profit margins, monitoring KPIs or fundraising, etc. In this blog we explain the value a part-time (or fractional) CFO brings to a business and answer the following … Continue reading →

How to achieve a fit for purpose finance function

Entrepreneurial technology businesses are now in uncharted territory and experiencing a range of financial, HR and operational challenges as a result of a rapidly changing economic environment.  Often, it is only when a crisis occurs that ineffective and inefficient structures in the finance team and the finance function emerge and create issues. In this blog, we identify the indicators of an inefficient finance function and insights into how to build … Continue reading →

Help with Overdue Accounts: Struggling to file statutory accounts?

Estimated reading time: 4.5 minutes Overdue accounts can be the Achilles heel for early-stage and growing companies, who tend not to have access to an experienced finance team. Their struggle to file statutory accounts at Companies House is often symptomatic of systemic difficulties within the business, easily overcome with the right accounting support. So, how do early-stage and growing companies access help to avoid the potentially severe consequences of late … Continue reading →

Sensemaking: The Science of making decisions without numbers

If we look at the role of the modern CFO, one could argue that we already use ‘sensemaking’. We take data from multiple sources, some historical and some future-looking, most of it numbers, and apply trends and commonsense to project forward to give us a sense of what the future might hold. However, CFOs are usually only focused on numbers: revenue, profit, and costs. Yet there is so much more … Continue reading →

Case Study: Cash flow forecasting with Power BI dashboard

Cash flow is uppermost in the minds of most CFOs as the current economic headwinds continue to threaten their businesses; now more than ever, cash is king. Ensuring your business is paid on time is crucial, but often cash flow worries are not because cash flow isn’t optimal; rather, the CFO does not have accurate visibility of where the cash is and when outstanding invoices will be paid. Consequently, they … Continue reading →

How do growing businesses obtain PE or VC investment in 2024?

Current economic turbulence has changed investment sentiment, and investors are, without a doubt, cautious, so obtaining investment in 2024 is difficult, but it’s not impossible. Related article | Flags for investment – is your business ready to fundraise? Through our discussions with investors, we have an up-to-date view of how and where they are currently investing and can answer the following top questions: How has the investment landscape changed in … Continue reading →

iFD client SwiftDx launches innovative rapid detection test

Follow us on LinkedIn. Cambridge Molecular Diagnostics Limited (SwiftDx) announces the launch of a new lateral flow test for the detection of Mycoplasma contamination. The innovative, easy-to-use, rapid test uses an adapted PCR method and provides accurate results within minutes, making it a valuable tool for laboratories and manufacturers in academia and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. The test has been fully validated, including evaluation within the University of Cambridge. … Continue reading →

Why choose a part-time finance director?

Any MBA or business studies course will point out the importance of having an accurately controlled and well-disciplined accounting function. There have been many catalogued disasters where lack of this vital process has resulted in the ultimate demise of even the largest of organisations let alone the new start-up. Every company needs good financial control and how better to protect yourself than to employ a finance director? But who is … Continue reading →

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