Assessing a Company’s Finance Function and Public Company Readiness
The Situation
A SaaS leader in credit report and identity theft monitoring was preparing to potentially go public with consideration for IPO or SPAC strategies. The Company engaged Accordion to perform a Finance Function Assessment with the goals of defining a roadmap to set the stage for public company filing and build the foundation as a leading finance function.
Services
Finance Function Assessment
IPO Readiness Assessment
The Execution
- Gathered and reviewed current state documentation including process narratives, policies and procedures, reporting, finance technology stack, and roles and responsibilities.
- Conducted functional interviews with management and leaders in the following relevant functions: Finance, Accounting, Legal, HR, IT, Reporting, Integration, Tax, Corporate Governance, and Compliance.
- Assessed overall readiness to become a public company and advised management on critical path to transformation, including:
- SPAC versus IPO roadmaps, requirements and timelines
- Business process optimization including close acceleration, internal controls, accounting operations, ASC 606, and GAAP considerations
- Phased scaling of the finance organization buildout in the near, intermediate, and post IPO timeframes
- ERP and Finance Technology optimization
- IPO Readiness Checklist
- FP&A, Reporting Pack, and SaaS Metrics Disclosures
- Defined a set of prioritized initiatives with owners, scope, estimated timing, and outcomes based on critical path activities and impact.
- Established implementation options with defined pros, cons, and risks.
- Developed IPO launch strategy considerations and decision drivers for pre-close and post-close periods.
- Facilitated buy-in with Company and Sponsor to garner support and alignment on the path forward.
The Results
Accordion provided an integrated assessment incorporating leading practices in F&A organization structure, business processes, technology, controls, accounting & financial reporting requirements, and finance analytics. These insights helped define priority initiatives and next steps to improve the scalability, effectiveness, and capabilities of the finance organization to position the Company for success as it embarked on the path to become a public company.