As a CFO of a startup, you are responsible for the financial health of your company and play a crucial role in building sustainable growth. It is essential that you are equipped with the best tools. These tools can help you centralize your administrative and financial information, digitize your invoices, manage your payroll, and automate a multitude of tasks to significantly increase your productivity. However, there are countless tools available. So which ones will truly help you make a difference? Iter Advisors presents its selection of the best tools for CFOs in startups.
Spendesk, for managing your expenses
As part of your startup’s operations, you incur a large number of expenses. Whether it’s payments to suppliers, personnel management costs, taxes and fees, or expense reports…
Often, a CFO finds themselves faced with endless lists of expenses that need to be reconciled—with the corresponding invoice, the expense item, and all necessary information. An extremely time-consuming process. It is therefore essential for a startup CFO to be equipped with a good expense management tool.
Spendesk is a comprehensive platform for managing business expenses, allowing you to:
- Establish an expense approval system and digitize expense report management
- Generate virtual or physical payment cards to secure business purchases
- Process invoices with a 100% digital workflow, from purchase order receipt to payment
- Monitor and manage the budget in real-time and obtain precise, actionable expense reports
- Automate administrative and pre-accounting tasks
Using Spendesk allows for greater visibility, enabling smoother management of a startup’s financial activity. On average, financial teams using Spendesk save 4 days of work each month thanks to the tool’s automation features.
How much does the solution cost? Spendesk offers three pricing plans: Starter, Essentials, and Scale, with a fixed access fee to the platform and variable charges based on usage. Note that there are no setup fees for the tool and pricing is not based on the number of users.
Netsuite, one of the best ERPs for small and medium-sized businesses
As a startup grows, its organizational management needs increase, and its information systems must adapt. This is the problem addressed by ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) or “integrated management software.” These systems centralize all information and enable the management of operational services, adapting to the needs of the business.
CFOs need to connect different tools, such as an e-commerce solution and a stock management tool, to consolidate various processes into a single system with data connectivity. Hence their reliance on an ERP.
Netsuite is one of the most widely deployed ERPs in the world. It is a powerful, modular cloud-based tool from Oracle. Netsuite provides financial management capabilities and streamlines organizational operations, thanks to CRM or e-commerce modules.
The benefits of the solution are numerous: Netsuite helps in making informed decisions through access to personalized dashboards and optimizes the overall productivity of the organization.
Pricing is available upon request; expect to pay several hundred euros per month.
Holded, the all-in-one management software (invoicing and accounting)
While ERPs offer a complete universe for managing all operational processes of a company, there are also simpler tools that provide a wide range of features for startups.
A CFO looking for an online tool capable of covering all their daily activities, without incurring high costs or complex implementation processes, would do well to consider an all-in-one management software like Holded, especially if their needs focus on invoicing and accounting.
Holded is a cloud-based tool for small and medium-sized enterprises that offers a multitude of applications to manage a wide array of needs: invoicing, accounting, CRM, inventory, team, and projects. It provides access to:
- Automatic report generation
- Streamlined payment processes
- Automatic bank reconciliation of transactions
- Human resources management and project tracking
- Management of prospect contacts and business opportunities
- Stock management
Holded saves numerous manual tasks while avoiding human errors. The tool offers, for example, 40 types of invoice templates. Most importantly, it gives a CFO 360-degree visibility to optimally manage their company’s activities and leverage growth opportunities.
The cost of the solution ranges from $25 to $159 per month based on annual billing, with four plans tailored for businesses.
Agicap, for cash flow management
Cash flow refers to the money available in a company’s accounts, allowing it to finance its operations. Managing the cash flow of a startup is fundamental, as poor decisions can simply lead the company to shut down. Conversely, a positive cash balance generally indicates good financial health.
Cash flow management can be a real headache for a CFO: they must master costs and expenses in the short, medium, and long term, while also establishing precise forecasting indicators to ensure healthy growth and a good borrowing or investment strategy.
Fortunately, effective tools exist to facilitate this work, and Agicap is one of them. It is an ergonomic and comprehensive tool that focuses on three areas:
- Cash flow monitoring
- Supplier payments
- Customer reminders
The promise of the tool is simple; it allows you to centralize cash flow streams, automate tracking, and plan for the future, enabling you to focus on what adds the most value: analysis and decision-making.
What are Agicap’s prices? They are available upon request and vary based on your company’s profile and needs: number of bank accounts, number of entities, revenue, etc.
Notion, a management and knowledge management tool
Knowledge Management is a concept that is becoming increasingly discussed. Behind this Anglicism lies a managerial approach to managing knowledge, aimed at collecting, organizing, and making available all useful knowledge to a company.
Every startup faces this challenge: documents and information are scattered across multiple locations, information is often outdated or unorganized, and knowledge is difficult to transmit. This impacts the overall productivity of the company, particularly that of the administrative and financial team. Like any manager, a CFO must be able to capture the right information and store it in the right place to retrieve and share it.
Notion is a visual and intuitive Knowledge Management and management tool that offers a wide range of features:
- Shared knowledge base
- Asynchronous communication tool
- Project management tool
- Writing software
- Note-taking application
- CMS (content management system)
- Intranet
- Database utility
- And much more!
It enables team members to collaborate in a single workspace, centralizing tasks, notes, files, databases, etc., and saves time through a vast selection of templates and integrations.
The solution is quite affordable, as there is a free version and several paid plans ranging from $4 to $8 per month for an annual commitment. For more specific needs, pricing is available upon request.
Asana, for task management and project tracking
A task management software is a digital tool that helps manage the lifecycle of projects and assists teams in working together more effectively by centralizing task organization and distribution.
Such a tool is generally essential for any startup managing complex projects or wishing to gain visibility on the progress of their projects, especially for cross-team projects. The administrative and financial department is no exception, and it often becomes indispensable for a CFO to rely on a task management tool once a certain growth stage is reached.
Asana is one of the most widely used tools for enabling agile project management and facilitating smooth communication among team members, especially if they are working remotely. Features offered include:
- Different project views: list view, Kanban, Gantt, timeline, boards…
- Automation of recurring tasks
- Integrations
- Process generation
- Reporting & overview
- CRM
- Document management
- Project management templates
Such a tool allows for daily tracking and comprehensive oversight of team work, better coordination of projects, and ultimately, increased efficiency and time savings.
Asana offers a free version, a Premium version at €10.99 per month per user (with annual billing), and a Business version at €24.99 per month per user, with more features.
Zapier, to automate actions endlessly
Do you want to receive an email when a certain spending threshold is exceeded? Create a connection between your dashboards and transactions in real-time? Transfer responses from an online form directly into a Google Sheet? In short, do you want to automate your processes, financial or otherwise, without needing to code? Then you need an action automation tool.
As a CFO, you definitely need to ensure that certain applications communicate with each other to get the right data, in the right place, at the right time. A tool like Zapier allows you to achieve this without having to manage tedious or repetitive imports and exports.
Zapier is an automation tool that enables you to build automated workflows between applications, creating “Zaps,” which are automation rules for actions sometimes performed daily. Very easy to use, Zapier offers:
- Connections with over 4,000 applications
- The ability to create and modify Zaps in just a few clicks
- Predefined Zap templates
This essential tool eliminates countless simple and time-consuming tasks, allowing you to gain speed in execution and focus on higher-value tasks.
Zapier offers a free version, as well as various plans ranging from €18 to €564 per month on annual billing, with pricing defined by the number of automated tasks included and desired features. For example, for €46 per month, you get 2,000 automated tasks and updates every 2 minutes.
Factorial, for HR management
A startup with a growing workforce generally needs to implement an HRIS (Human Resource Information System). This is a set of digital tools serving HR teams and administrative and financial teams to facilitate their daily work.
Indeed, managing employees in a startup can be extremely tedious without appropriate tools. Not to mention the risk of errors, such as in payroll, which can have significant repercussions for a CFO.
Factorial is an HRIS software that digitizes all HR processes and offers among other features:
- Leave and absence management
- Time tracking
- Payroll variations
- Document management
- Candidate tracking system
- Onboarding of employees
- Interview tracking
According to Factorial, using the tool saves an average of 30 hours per month in managing HR administrative tasks. These hours can thus be dedicated to more human aspects.
Pricing varies based on the chosen features, starting at €5.25 per month per employee, with annual billing. Factorial also offers a “Recruitment Pack” with two options at €49 or €129 per month.
Pennylane, for managing accounting expertise
Many companies require a comprehensive tool to manage their accounting. Such a tool allows for real-time centralization of all financial flows of a company and streamlines collaboration between startup leaders, administrative and financial teams, and/or accountants.
As a CFO, it is likely that you will need to manage your accounting by linking your banking data, payroll management software, expense reporting tool, or e-commerce site. However, managing accounting without a centralized system and relying on Excel spreadsheets can quickly become unmanageable.
Pennylane is a SaaS software that presents itself as a comprehensive financial management platform covering the following areas:
- Accounting
- Purchase management
- Sales management
- Cash flow management
This tool allows you to access reliable data at any time, enabling you to make informed decisions while saving a lot of time. And if you need additional help, Pennylane offers support from a partner accountant.
Pricing is based on different packages, depending on the number of employees. For a company with 11 to 25 employees, for example, you can choose from several plans ranging from €79 to €299 per month.
DocuSign, the leader in electronic signatures
Electronic signatures have become widely established within companies in recent years. And for good reason: they guarantee the integrity of a document and authenticate its author in a 100% digital and nearly instantaneous manner.
A CFO regularly needs to finalize contracts, manage approvals, and other agreements, and electronic signatures are an essential process to implement, as they save precious time. Without an electronic signature, it can indeed be long and tedious to obtain a signature remotely, which requires signing a paper document.
DocuSign is the world leader in electronic signatures, with a complete suite of applications for preparing, signing, executing, and managing agreements. The tool includes:
- Electronic signatures (simple, advanced, and qualified)
- Integration with multiple tools
- API implementation
The benefits are numerous: not only are delays reduced and risks managed, but the experience is particularly smooth for your suppliers, employees, or partners.
DocuSign offers free plans as well as three subscription levels:
- Individual: €9 per month
- Standard: €23 per month
- Business Pro: €38 per month
Additionally, there is a pricing grid starting at €50 per month for APIs.
BONUS: Monex, for currency management
A currency management tool allows a company to access buying and selling prices of currencies and to process transactions or money transfers. It can also provide useful information for a company’s business decisions.
A startup operating internationally, in countries with different currencies, quickly faces the challenge of needing to exchange currencies, for example, to pay suppliers abroad or manage payroll for international teams. This involves costs and complexities in terms of operations. Hence the necessity to equip oneself with a suitable tool.
Monex is an online platform that automates commercial activities concerning currency tracking and settlement. The tool allows operations in over 60 currencies and offers various payment methods. Advantages :
- Customizable portal
- Automated transaction tracking
- Transaction volume analysis
- Sanction verification system for politically exposed persons and related compliance procedures
- Approved beneficiaries system and detailed access reports
In summary, Monex provides easy access to the foreign exchange market, 24/7, enabling the streamlining of financial transactions internationally. Payments are thus made faster and more securely, enhancing operational efficiency.
The pricing for this tool is available upon request, as the currency management platform is part of a broader financial support offer.
Conclusion
These tools aimed at CFOs in startups all share a common goal: to provide you with the visibility and control necessary to make the right financial decisions and scale your business as directly as possible. Keep in mind that they are essential for your development.
Want to know which tools would be best suited for you? Contact us for a personalized diagnosis here.