Case Study: SaaS Company Realises Their Financial Data Isn’t as Solid as They Thought
🧩 Overview
Industry: SaaS
Stage: Growth
ARR: £3m
Service: Financial clean-up and reporting improvements
❌ The Problem
The company was growing well, but the financial data wasn’t keeping up.
- Salaries were lumped under one line - no breakdown by department
- There was no view of CAC, payback period, or ROI on marketing
- Revenue wasn’t accrued monthly
- Profit margins were unclear
- The chart of accounts was messy and not structured for insights
The founder put it simply:
“We’re doing well, but it feels like driving a car with our eyes closed.”
✅ What We Did
- Rebuilt the chart of accounts to break down costs by department
- Fixed revenue recognition to reflect monthly accruals
- Created a clear P&L by function (sales, marketing, dev, operations)
- Added tracking for CAC, payback period, and marketing ROI
- Clarified COGS vs OPEX to show real profit margins
- Reviewed working capital metrics, including acid test ratio and cash runway
📈 The Result
The founder now gets accurate monthly reports with real insight. They can finally answer basic but critical questions:
- How much does it cost to get a customer?
- How long does it take to recover that spend?
- Which departments are driving (or slowing) growth?
- Are we ready to scale further?
💬 Founder Quote
“I had no idea how much I didn’t know. Now the numbers finally make sense - and we can actually use them to make decisions.”
💡 Is Your Financial Data Accurate?
A lot of SaaS companies rely on external bookkeepers for basic compliance. But that’s not enough. You need a clean chart of accounts, proper revenue accrual, and clarity between COGS and OPEX.
This gives you:
- 📊 Strategic pricing
- 💵 Real profit margin visibility
- 🛠️ Better cost management
- 🚀 Smarter growth decisions
And most importantly, confidence in your numbers.
👉 Want help cleaning up your financials?
