For early-stage startups, fundraising is challenging, and valuations are down in 2023. Smart startups are doing everything they can to preserve cash flow and extend their runways to push their next raise as far into the future as possible. This includes trimming unnecessary expenses, re-examining hiring plans, scrutinizing marketing investments, and evaluating contracts to pull revenue forward.
Startups are also increasingly looking to Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) to manage and preserve cash. Once considered an enterprise-only domain, FP&A’s value is today being unlocked by companies of all sizes. Growth-oriented startups are particularly benefiting from FP&A, as they often have rich data sets to leverage and the agility to turn data insights into action quickly.
A great example of how FP&A helps startups preserve cash while preparing for the future is through a company’s budget, or forecast. FP&A is uniquely positioned and equipped to collaborate with organizational stakeholders to understand current performance, build a plan to be executed collectively, and regularly compare expected results with actual performance. FP&A can articulate plans and ongoing performance to your company’s leadership team to ensure transparency and risk and opportunities are being considered.
Leveraging FP&A to the fullest extent will accelerate your future business growth while helping you diligently manage your current cash. Among other things, this enables your startup to be prepared for a strong showing when the time comes to pitch VCs.
Leveraging FP&A to the fullest extent will accelerate your future business growth while helping you diligently manage your current cash.
To support early-stage startups, this month Burkland is launching a new FP&A package designed especially for pre-revenue businesses. This exciting new offering gives small startups direct ongoing access to Burkland’s FP&A experts for a simple monthly fee. Contact us if you’re interested in learning more and being one of the first startups to benefit from this new service.
Getting Ready for FP&A: Steps for Founders
Startup founders can take a few key internal steps now, to hit the ground running and reap the maximum benefits from FP&A:
- Identify and outline your current plans and goals (the more specific the better):
- Short-term plans and goals
- Long-term plans and goals
- Near-term or future raises
- Perform housekeeping to get your historicals in a good place. This especially means your accounting processes and systems like payables and receivables. Depending on your business and goals, it may also include systems like CRM, Marketing, and Inventory Management.
- Don’t let unknowns prevent you from contacting Burkland today – get the conversation started! We are here to help you unlock the value of FP&A with your business’s best interests in mind.
Learn more about Burkland’s FP&A for startups, and contact us to learn more about our new FP&A package for pre-revenue startups.