The New Standard for Growth: FP&A and Reporting Practices
Middle-market and start-up companies no longer have the luxury of skimping on a Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) and Reporting practice, even if they lack the personnel skills or budget to build one internally. This has led to an emerging market for outsourced solutions, though not all options are created equal.
Founders often reminisce about their early days, from ramen dinners to beginning milestones celebrated in the garage “office.” Back then, it was about the idea, the new groundbreaking service or product, and not the infrastructure to take that business to market and ensure it flourishes. However, this honeymoon phase has been shrinking for years now, as the best new ideas are catching the attention of venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms earlier and earlier.
For decades, PE investors have targeted small, thriving family businesses and fast-growing middle-market enterprises, often helping them professionalize their operations, even if it means moving beyond their charming origin stories. One critical element that PE investors can offer a potential portfolio company is proper FP&A and Reporting. Today, they don’t need to build that in-house at the company, which more often than not is unaffordable. Instead, they can tap an outside consultant to tackle the FP&A duties.
Consero, a leader in “Finance as a Service” (FaaS), recently launched an Advisory Services division offering FP&A and Reporting. Given their long history of delivering entirely outsourced finance functions, they have experience acting as an extension of the client’s office. “It became clear that some clients needed us only in a FP&A capacity, and we wanted to make sure they had that option,” says Tyler Nelson, Executive Vice President of Consero’s Corporate Development and General Manager of Advisory Services.
Many private equity firms have used Consero for its Finance as a Service (FaaS) model. Client have also noticed that there are cases when they might have a capable finance function but lack the resources for comprehensive FP&A. “Rather than lose a great internal team, the company can simply tap us to complement the effort,” says Nelson. But how important is FP&A when it comes to some of these businesses on the lower end of the middle market?
“In my experience, any business generating more than $2-3M a year in revenue with outside investors/stakeholders should have a robust FP&A practice with subject matter experts either internally or externally, dedicated to the maintenance of whole business monthly views and a subset of KPIs that are real-time,” says Nelson.
For private equity portfolio companies, a solid FP&A practice is essential, regardless of their size or age. These companies often have ambitious plans and must meet stringent reporting requirements typical of PE investments. Consero’s comprehensive FP&A services are designed to meet these needs.
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Consero’s services include annual budgets, rolling forecasts, three-statement models (Balance Sheet, P&L, Cash Flow), and variance analysis. They provide tailored KPIs for industries like SaaS, Healthcare, and Investment Management, along with industry-specific reporting packages. Additionally, they offer weekly cash forecasting, bank covenant and debt reporting, and investor and board reporting.
Consero is not alone in offering such services. According to preliminary data from AICPA, 84% of the top 100 accounting firms named Client Advisory Services as a growing service area. However, clients need to vet if a potential service provider is treating that new business line as a core offering, by investing in senior expertise and dedicating time to master the discipline. Large firms might assign junior staff to such duties,,but that’s not the case with Consero’s FP&A and Reporting offering.
“Consero has a dedicated FP&A and Reporting consulting team that builds, maintains and interprets business intelligence models and reporting for all levels of operational and executive leadership,” says Nelson. “And we have dedicated SMEs who focus on board, governance, regulatory and investor relations reporting.”
Built on extensive experience and reinforced by significant investment, Consero’s FP&A and Reporting services are rigorous and fully integrated with their clients’ operations, a feat that Consero has been doing since its own early days.
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