Scaling SaaS financial operations: insights from Flatchr’s journey

As Financial and Administrative Manager, Stanislas Olivier has played a pivotal role in shaping the financial operations of Flatchr – a rapidly growing SaaS company specializing in intelligent recruitment software. Since its founding in 2015, Flatchr has transformed how businesses manage recruitment, offering tools that streamline job postings, centralize applications, and automate candidate sourcing. 

As Flatchr scaled, Stanislas’s expertise became crucial in navigating the increasing complexity of the company’s financial management. 

This article examines the evolution of Flatchr’s financial operations under Stanislas’s leadership, exploring the challenges and strategies associated with scaling a SaaS business – including the benefits of working with an outsourced CFO and the importance of financial automation and strategic budgeting.

By examining Flatchr’s journey, this article provides valuable insights and actionable advice for entrepreneurs looking to scale their SaaS.

Flatchr’s financial operations journey

From early stages to scaling

Stanislas Olivier joined Flatchr when the company was still in its early stages, characterized by a small team with everyone wearing multiple hats. 

In 2020, as the Chief of Staff, Stanislas had a wide range of responsibilities. These included administrative duties, essential financial management, hiring, onboarding, overseeing the IT fleet, forming teams to use software, SIRH, TR, and overseeing day-to-day office operations. Essentially, he was responsible for ensuring that the foundational aspects of the business ran smoothly.

At the time, the company’s financial needs were relatively simple, so it made sense to consolidate these tasks under one role.

Indeed, in the early stages of SaaS development, the flexibility of team members is often a critical asset. Roles are typically fluid and dynamic, with employees stepping in where needed to ensure the company meets its goals, therefore handling various responsibilities. 

This environment creates a culture of collaboration and cross-functional knowledge sharing but also poses challenges as the business begins to scale. 

Indeed, as Flatchr began to scale, so did the complexity of its financial operations. The increasing number of clients, transactions, and employees meant that the financial management tasks required specialized attention. Therefore, Stanislas’s role started shifting from a generalist to a more focused one, especially regarding finance.

Building the finance team

As the company grew, it became evident that the financial operations needed a dedicated team to manage the increasing workload and complexity. 

Flatchr recruited two more team members with specialized accounting, financial planning, and analysis skills to address this need. Clear role definitions and responsibilities were also established to ensure that each member could focus on specific areas (financial reporting, budgeting, compliance…).

Additionally, setting up the finance and office management functions included:

• establishing clear financial procedures;
• implementing financial software to automate routine tasks;
• creating a financial reporting structure to visualize the company’s financial health. 

Creating this finance hub was not just about managing the increased workload; it also laid the groundwork for more sophisticated financial management that could scale with the business.

Stanislas’s journey to the creation of Flatchr’s finance team highlights the importance of adaptability in a SaaS. Today, thanks to a strong foundation, the finance department is critical to the company’s overall strategy and functions.

Working with an outsourced CFO

As Flatchr continued to grow, the need for specialized financial knowledge became apparent. While the internal finance team managed day-to-day operations efficiently, the increasing complexity of financial strategies, investor relations, and long-term planning required insights beyond what the internal team could provide alone.

This realization led Flatchr to bring in an outsourced CFO. This decision was strategic and aimed at gaining an external perspective that would drive more informed decision-making. With their experience working across various industries, the outsourced CFO can introduce best practices, challenge assumptions, and help steer the company through periods of financial transition.

As Stanislas highlights, the outsourced CFO works part-time and provides valuable insights and support during key financial activities such as board meetings, fundraising efforts, and monthly closures.

Clear communication and alignment on financial goals are crucial to ensure effective collaboration with an external CFO. According to Stanislas: ‘You need to get used to getting down to the nitty-gritty. The CFO doesn’t work in the company, so you should be able to describe what’s happening in the figures.’

This collaboration between the internal finance team and the outsourced CFO integrated external advice with internal insights, helping make informed decisions and ensuring that financial strategies were aligned with the company’s objectives.

Financial strategies 

Financial stability and reporting advice

Maintaining financial health is key to any SaaS long-term success, and it has been central at Flatchr from the start. However, ensuring robust financial stability and accurate reporting requires a strategic approach.

As Stanislas explains, Flatchr uses our financial management tool, which we designed to integrate easily with other business systems, such as CRM and ERP platforms. This allows them to have financial data that is accurate and up-to-date, providing a comprehensive view of their companies’ financial health.

Moreover, Stanislas recommends focusing on timely and accurate financial reporting. For instance, Flatchr has established a regular reporting schedule, including monthly, quarterly, and annual reports. This includes detailed profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.

Stanislas’s approach emphasizes the finance team’s role as a business partner. The finance department supports operational decision-making by providing other teams with data-driven insights. This notably involves:

• Customized dashboards: Developing dashboards tailored to the needs of different departments, such as sales and marketing, to provide relevant financial insights. Here’s an example:
  
  

• Scenario analysis: It is highly recommended to perform scenario analyses to forecast the impact of your future business decisions, and it helps other teams make informed choices.

Key metrics and KPIs

Regarding financial metrics, Flatchr’s journey initially began with a unique focus on MRR, which is fundamental for understanding the predictability of income. 

However, Stanislas explains that as the business matured, additional KPIs like Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) became essential for capturing a fuller picture of growth potential and customer retention.

"At Flatchr, we initially only monitored a few metrics, focusing on MRR. However, we are taking it further by breaking it down by segment. Additionally, we have decided to analyze NRR and other metrics, such as the variance compared to the budget or a more detailed estimate of the VAT amount."

By focusing on these more precise and nuanced indicators, Flatchr teams were able to identify opportunities for upselling and improving customer satisfaction.

Starting with MRR is a must, but it’s equally important to expand into other metrics, such as Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Churn Rate, and NRR as the company scales. For instance, Flatchr’s monitoring of Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) alongside MRR helped maintain healthy cash flow and informed strategic adjustments in payment collection. 

Here are some key metrics you can monitor and analyze:

1. User acquisition rates: Track the number of new users gained over a specific period. 
2. Churn rates: Measure the rate at which customers stop using your service.
3. CLV: Calculate the total revenue expected from customers for their relationship with your company.
4. Feature usage: Identify which features are most and least used.
5. Engagement rates: Measure how often users interact with your product.
6. Conversion rates: Track the percentage of users who take a desired action, such as subscribing or purchasing.
7. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Measure customer satisfaction with your product or service.

A layered approach to metrics ensures your business can track revenue and effectively manage customer relationships and operational efficiency.

Finally, regular reporting and cross-departmental reviews were key at Flatchr. By aligning financial metrics with operational goals, the company ensured all teams were on the same page and could quickly respond to changes. 

📌 TL;DR – Ensure your finance team provides data-driven insights to other teams and informs decision-making. To do so, focus on basic metrics like MRR, then expand to include KPIs like NRR, CLTV, CAC, and churn rate to gain a comprehensive view of growth and customer retention.

How to build a budget and do revenue segmentation?

Budgeting processes

Building a SaaS budget requires a collaborative approach focusing on growth. 

At Flatchr, the budgeting process begins with each department manager preparing a budget based on their team’s objectives and growth targets. As Stanislas mentioned, these individual budgets are then brought together in a collaborative seminar where they are discussed and aligned with the company’s overall goals. 

‘Once each manager has worked out their budgets and objectives for the year, the team meets and holds a mini-seminar to present their budgets, explain why they need such and such a budget, why they need such and such a recruitment, and where they want to get to.’, Stanislas explains.

This process helps resolve conflicts and ensures the final budget supports the broader business strategy. The finalized budget is directly tied to key metrics, such as lead generation targets and sales capacity, ensuring that every department’s financial plan is growth-driven and aligned with company objectives.

For other SaaS businesses, it’s crucial to start by aligning departmental budgets with overall revenue goals:

1. Engage key stakeholders early.
2. Ensure their budget proposals are realistic yet ambitious.
3. Refine these through cross-functional discussions.
   

The teamwork helps create a clear financial plan and encourages everyone to work together to achieve the company’s growth goals.
Learn more about budgeting by reading our article here.

Revenue segmentation

Stanislas describes how revenue segmentation evolved as the business matured, reflecting the need for more granular insights into customer behavior and needs. 

Initially, Flatchr segmented its customers into two groups based on their level of autonomy – those who were self-sufficient and those requiring significant support. However, with the help of tools like Fincome, Flatchr discovered that deeper segmentation could unlock even greater value. 

This led to a four-segment model, categorizing clients based on company size and frequency of needs, ranging from fully autonomous customers to large enterprises with recurring recruitment needs. As Stanislas explained, ‘Finally, we realized, especially thanks to Fincome, that we could go further with our segmentation and decided to divide it into four segments.’

Source: https://userlist.com/blog/customer-segmentation-saas/

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Flatchr’s experience highlights the importance of refining revenue segmentation as your company grows. Leveraging analytical tools can reveal patterns that simpler segmentation models might miss. Regularly revisiting your segmentation strategy and being willing to iterate can lead to more targeted marketing efforts, better resource allocation, and higher customer satisfaction and retention.

Optimizing financial operations through automation

As a SaaS, optimizing financial operations isn’t just about saving time – it’s about powering growth. You can transform your financial workflows and gain a competitive edge by automating routine tasks or leveraging smart tools.

Automating routine financial tasks

 Automating routine financial tasks is critical for improving both efficiency and accuracy. According to Stanislas, automation significantly streamlines Flatchr operations, particularly invoicing, payment processing, and financial reporting. 

By automating these processes, Flatchr reduced manual errors and freed up time for more strategic activities. 

For instance, automating their monthly financial reporting allowed them to consistently complete it by the 7th day of the following month, providing timely insights that informed business decisions. 

Therefore, as shown by Stanislas’s experience, automating routine tasks should be a top priority to ensure consistency and reliability in your company’s financial operations. Tools such as automated billing systems, AI-driven bookkeeping, and reconciliation software can reduce the time spent on these activities while minimizing human error risk.

Choosing the right tools 

Successfully automating processes implies using the right tools: Flatchr’s approach involved integrating a suite of tools that worked seamlessly together to enhance their financial processes. 

For example, their accounting and invoicing systems are directly linked to Fincome, which provides real-time revenue analysis. This integration ensured that data flowed smoothly between systems, enabling real-time tracking of financial metrics. 

Such integration is very helpful if you are looking to optimize your financial operations. Ensure you consider tools that offer seamless integration with existing systems, scalability as the company grows, and advanced features like real-time analytics and automation of complex tasks such as revenue recognition. 

📌 TL;DR – Automate routine financial tasks to boost efficiency and reduce errors. Select tools that integrate smoothly with your systems and offer real-time analytics to enhance financial operations and support growth.

The challenges of unpaid invoices: what solutions?

Finally, Stanislas explains that managing unpaid invoices has been a significant challenge as a business that relies on recurring revenue models: ‘It’s rarely that the customer doesn’t want to pay, it’s that sometimes, they don’t know how to.’

In Flatchr’s case, the company faced this issue by implementing a proactive approach that combined close monitoring, automated reminders, and a disciplined collections process. They tracked payment delays carefully, using automated systems to send reminders to clients before payments were overdue. Additionally, regular audits of accounts receivable helped identify potential issues early. 

As Stanislas pointed out, understanding the difference between positive cash flow and long-term financial health is crucial – just because more money is collected than spent in a month doesn’t guarantee sustainability! 

To effectively address unpaid invoices, it’s good to establish clear payment terms, use automation for tracking and reminders, and maintain a robust collections strategy, reducing the risk of bad debt.

Stanislas’s journey at Flatchr can inspire entrepreneurs trying to scale a SaaS business. The company’s experience underscores the importance of adaptability and strategic planning in financial management, from building a finance team to leveraging external expertise and adopting advanced financial tools.

One of the key takeaways from Flatchr’s experience is the necessity of evolving financial practices as the business grows. Ensuring robust financial health through precise reporting, transparent budgeting processes, and strategic segmentation can make a significant difference in sustaining growth. 

Ultimately, Stanislas’s story highlights the role of sound financial operations in a company’s ability to scale effectively. By following these principles, you can better position yourself for growth and success in the long term.