Laura Jones - Virtual Finance Director - Aviir
Laura Jones is a virtual Finance Director working remotely for fast-changing entrepreneurial companies. Realising she needed support in executing her vision for one of her clients, Laura turned to Finling. Since 2014, we’ve forged a partnership across Laura's portfolio of clients, enabling Laura to deliver maximum value in her role.
Partnership Highlights
Working together to ensure a successful company sale and founder exit
Deploying smart technology to reduce accounting pain-points for both founders and staff
Supporting Laura to be able to work in a purely strategic role as a FD
The challenge
As a virtual Finance Director, Laura provides her entrepreneur clients with all the strategic capabilities of a full-time finance director for just a few days per month. When Laura takes on a new client, she often finds that they lack reliable financial information for making business decisions.
Laura said: "When I came on board at Inframon, a cloud technology company, we didn’t have a set of figures each month showing us how the business was performing, and basic day-to-day finance tasks were not being done. In order to deliver as a Finance Director, I needed reliable and timely accounting support that's when I turned to Finling."
Our approach
Partnering with a virtual Finance Director like Laura, we can each work to our strengths to support the founders to achieve their vision: Laura providing high-level financial strategy and insight, and Finling establishing financial processes and accurately managing the books on a day to day basis.
"I trust Jennifer and the Finling team to do the best job for my clients. They are flexible, they understand entrepreneurial timelines, and are committed to finding the right solution. Their starting point is to make bookkeeping, payroll and expense processes as efficient and pain-free as possible using the right technology, which also allows them to be cost effective."
Finling Services used
Payroll and expense claim process
Personal tax returns for company directors
Conversion from Sage to Xero
Financial period end processing and reporting
Statutory accounts and corporation tax returns
Financial period end processes and reporting arrangements
R&D Tax Credit claims
Dividend declarations and vouchers
Outcomes and benefits
In 2017, our first engagement with Laura came to an end - for the very best of reasons. Following a successful investment financing round 2 years prior, Inframon was sold to Ensono, allowing the founders a route to exit.
"Neither transaction would have been achievable had we not had 12 quarters of clear, reliable monthly books and cloud-stored records thanks to Finling. These underpinned both the financial and business presentations we gave to our investors and purchaser, and the PwC due diligence process."
Another mutual client, NAK, has outsourced its finance function to us, enabling Laura to work closely with the directors to focus on strategy and growth of the business.
"It makes my job much easier, knowing that with Finling, the day-to-day financial processes are operating reliably and the accounts and financial forecasts are accurate. I value the working partnership I have with Finling. I know I can depend on them to deliver.”