Post-Investment Financial Management
Everything you need to know in order to keep your company finances on track after securing investors
OVERVIEW
Get assistance with your post-investment financial management with OCFO.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’VE RAISED FUNDING! Your ideas and efforts over the last few years have been recognised by an investor. Now that the celebrations are over, the work starts in delivering on your promises and keeping your investors informed.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Get access to the right financial direction for your growing business.
The Importance of regular and accurate reporting
Reporting allows your investors to stay up to date on your company and their investments.
Every investor is different. Each has different reporting requirements. Some are very specific and want financial information completed on their in-house templates. Others want more high-level information and forecasting. Your company’s financial information may be part of a large portfolio that is consolidated on a monthly basis by the investor. They will therefore need similar financial information to what they receive from their other investees.
It is important to contact the investor soon after you have received their investment to get an understanding of what type of reporting they require. This proactiveness can save you from unnecessary costs at a later stage and will help start your relationship with the investor on a positive note.
Setting and keeping a budget
Budgeting allows for financial planning and benchmarking and can give your investor peace of mind.
Investors normally require that a fixed budget be set. The aim of any budget is to have a target to work towards. Sometimes the same budget that was used in valuing the business can be utilized, however, this budget will need to be broken down into a monthly budget. Sometimes such budgets are adjusted for significant changes. For example, if you received funding pre-Covid, the budget expectation could be very different as a result of lockdowns and changing business environments.
Actual results for each month and for the year need to be compared to the proposed budget. Any large differences need to be investigated and explained to the investor.
Cash Flow Forecasting
As a follow-on from the budgeting process, the investor will want to know how the budget translates into cash for the business.
The cash flow forecast is a financial planning tool that shows the predicted flow of cash in and out of a project or organization each month. Forecasting will enable you to plan ahead so that you can anticipate periods of cash shortage and take corrective action.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) and what they can tell you about the business
The investor will also want to understand what the KPIs are for the business and how they are tracking compared to budget and history.
Some examples of KPIs include:
- Gross Profit Margins (overall and per product)
- Number of sales per product
- Number of active customers
- Monthly Recurring Revenue - overall and per customer
- Average Cost of Service (ACS) - overall and per customer
- Customer acquisition costs (CAC)
- Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
Directors’ Meetings
Implementing financial checks and controls
Because you are now responsible for third-party funds, the investor will likely require you to implement certain controls within the business.
You may have been running your business as a startup before the investment. Speed was probably crucial. Payments were made when they were needed and you would have been able to make payments without requiring authorisation. Let’s have a look at what might be expected:
- All payments made from the business bank account require one person to load and another person to release (to reduce the risk of misappropriation of funds)
- All employees will require employment contracts, including you and your fellow founders. You may not have paid yourself a proper salary before but you will have to start.
- A controls assessment might be expected by the investor in order to understand the level of risk inherent in the business.
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Post-Investment Financial Management
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