Articles - Finmark

Forecasting Risk: How to Forecast Financial Unknowns

No business operates in a vacuum, absent of potential risks to profitability, efficiency, and operational viability. For some organizations, the risks are… View Now

Integrated Financial Planning: The Future of FP&A

Tell me if this story sounds familiar: You’re coming up to the end of the financial year, which means it’s about time… View Now

How to Create a Strategic Forecast For 2023

Financial forecasting is one of the most important aspects of a CFO’s role. Accurate and insightful forecasts inform budget allocations, company investments,… View Now

Introducing Finmark 3.0!

It’s amazing how much can change over the course of a year. In January, we announced the release of Finmark 2.0, which… View Now

Driver-Based Budgeting: How to Level Up Your Financial Plan

Building, refining, and executing budgets is a key part of any successful CFO’s role. The problem is, many of us aren’t designing… View Now

Driver-Based Planning: How Experts Build Forecasts

Building simple financial forecasts is pretty straightforward. You look at past performance (say, what you were doing last year), and project this… View Now

How to Build a Budgeting Process From Scratch

It’s time to craft a new budget for the upcoming quarter. You sit down and think to yourself: okay, where to start?… View Now

Land & Expand: A Cheat Code For Growth

Growing a business is, in some ways, a bit like a video game. You’re gonna sink thousands of hours into it, the… View Now

Joining Forces With BILL

Today, I’m so grateful and excited to announce that Finmark has officially joined forces with BILL. The past two and a half… View Now

Expansion Revenue: The Tactic Large SaaS Companies Love

Ever wondered how those mammoth SaaS companies like Slack and Atlassian seem to just keep growing and growing? Haven’t they, like, cornered… View Now

Finance Business Partner: The Future of Finance Teams

Finance’s role in business operations is changing, and it’s changing fast. No longer are finance teams asked to present the raw numbers… View Now

How to Use Client Advisory Services to Grow Your Accounting Business

Growing revenue is a key concern for pretty much any CPA, especially when you’ve just gone out on your own and are… View Now

Financial Leadership: 5 Skills Every CFO Should Master

Most CFOs have a pretty good hold on the whole finance thing. I mean, it’s why they got the top financial gig… View Now

What is Strategic Budgeting? (How to Do it Right)

Budgeting is one of the most fundamental yet crucial aspects of running and growing a business. The thing is, many startups are… View Now

Cash Flow Management: A Guide for Startups

If you’re a founder or CFO, you’re probably aware that managing cash flow is not only the number one priority, but also… View Now

What is Financial Reporting? (3 Reports Every Business Needs)

Financial reporting is not something you do just because you have to. I mean, you do have to (depending on which country… View Now

5 Trends CFOs Need to Watch in 2022

The CFO role has evolved dramatically over the past 5-10 years. Traditionally, CFOs were primarily responsible for overseeing the business’s financial health.… View Now

How to Increase Revenue: 8 Strategies For Rapid Growth

Revenue is the fuel that keeps your business going. But here’s the thing: Consistent, growing revenue is harder to generate than you… View Now

Revenue Strategy: 10 Proven Strategies For Growth

Optimizing your company’s revenue streams is not just important; it’s crucial for ongoing growth. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a startup founder,… View Now

How Flare Evolved From Spreadsheets With Finmark

The Challenge Flare is a fast-growing cybersecurity startup on a mission to help businesses rapidly identify external threats that could damage their… View Now

Revenue Planning: Step-by-Step Guide

One of the most exciting parts of growing a business is watching the revenue pour in. Less thrilling is watching that money… View Now

How ProvenCFO is Revolutionizing FP&A With Finmark

When you think of exciting, forward-thinking, innovative businesses, accounting firms probably aren’t high on the list. However, Dave Willson, CFO at ProvenCFO… View Now

Strategic Finance: Evolution of The Finance Function

The old approach to finance is broken. It’s a passive and reactive process that limits finance teams and your company. Traditionally, the… View Now

Finance Department Structure: How to Build Your Team

Managing company finances isn’t always a founder’s strong point. Many founders get into it because they’re passionate about their product and generally… View Now

P&L Management: The Ultimate Guide For Startups

Nothing burns a business down faster than a poor understanding of cash flow, revenue, expenses, and ultimately, what’s happening with the bottom… View Now

Capital Planning: Your Most Important Financial Asset

When you’re growing your startup, it’s easy to fixate on short-term challenges and goals. How will you grow this year? What campaigns… View Now

10 FP&A Best Practices to Follow

Building a high-performing financial planning and analysis (FP&A) business unit is about much more than preparing financial statements and reporting on fiscal… View Now

Should You Raise Money in the Next 12 Months? A Bull/Bear Valuation Calculator

Jump straight to the calculator During the Covid-19 pandemic—particularly in 2021—SaaS companies saw historical valuations and unprecedented levels of VC funding. To… View Now

10 FP&A Skills Every Finance Leader Should Have

FP&A (financial planning and analysis) is one of the most critical pieces for scaling a startup and ensuring sustainable revenue growth. It… View Now

How to Create a Startup Hiring Plan From Scratch

Creating a hiring plan is one of the most challenging things to do as a startup. You don’t have unlimited resources, and… View Now

How to do Headcount Planning (The Right Way)

Many founders take a “figure it out as you go” approach to hiring, which while agile, isn’t conducive to building a strong… View Now

Venture Capital 101: A Guide For Founders

Last year, more than 17,000 startups received funding from a venture capitalist, amounting to just under $330 billion in investment. That’s a… View Now

Venture Debt 101: A Guide For Founders

Most startup founders know a thing or two about venture capital, but what about VC’s little brother, venture debt? Venture debt is… View Now

Equity vs. Debt Financing: What’s Best For Your Startup?

Aside from bootstrapping, equity financing and debt financing are the two primary avenues for startup founders to raise cash and scale their… View Now

Debt Financing 101: A Guide For Founders

Without cash in the bank, your startup has zero chances of surviving long term. In fact, one of the leading reasons startups… View Now

Equity Financing 101: A Guide For Founders

Building a startup is exciting. From initial conception through to designing a go-to-market plan, right through the dozen or so pivots you… View Now

Zero-Based Budgeting 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Determining how much money your business should spend each year can be difficult. How much should go to customer success vs. sales?… View Now

Accounting vs. FP&A: What’s The Difference?

For many founders, one of the most challenging and confusing aspects of starting a business is wrapping your head around the myriad… View Now

Rolling Budget 101: A Beginner’s Guide

One of the hardest parts about building a business is making enough educated guesses about your market, potential customers, and more. More… View Now

How to Create a Startup Budget (Template Included)

Did you know that 90% of startups fail? That’s scary. But why do they fail? It’s not because they had a bad… View Now

Static Budgeting 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Budgets act as a financial blueprint and the backbone of a company. Having a clear understanding of your overall expenses and revenues… View Now

How to Create a Cash Flow Projection: Step-by-Step Guide

Ask any experienced business owner what the most important factor is in staying afloat as an early-stage company, and nine times out… View Now

How Much Runway Should Your Startup Have?

For most founders, some things come easily. Understanding market demand, visualizing product roadmaps, developing plans to drive more revenue. These are areas… View Now

Incremental Budgeting 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Sometimes making a few small tweaks to an old plan can make it as good as new. The same goes for incremental… View Now

Flexible Budgeting 101: What Is It & How Does It Work?

Let’s face it – business moves fast, and we have to be flexible for what is thrown at us. More often than… View Now

Fixed vs. Variable Costs: What’s The Difference?

Getting a startup off the ground and financially stable is no small feat. The average new business spends around $30-40k on startup… View Now

How to Do Budget Analysis in 4 Easy Steps

Whether you’re a founder, CFO, or work in the finance department of a company, understanding cash flow is vital for the long-term… View Now

A Simple Guide to Budget Variance

You’ve been working hard to make sure you’re managing your startup’s finances well. You put together a budget allocation based on your… View Now

How to Build a Budget Forecast From Scratch

You probably have some big goals for growing your startup and how much revenue you want to generate this year. But how… View Now

Budget Allocation: A Step-by-Step Guide

Most of us are fairly familiar with putting together a monthly budget for personal expenses. We put aside X for rent, Y… View Now

Finmark Announces Strategic Investment Led by American Express Ventures

Finmark, financial modeling software provider for startups, today announced new funding from American Express Ventures, the strategic investment group of American Express.… View Now

Founder Story: Turning Startups Into Butterflies With Joshua Konkle

As many founders know, startups are a beast. For many, a recipe for a startup includes blood, sweat, tears, and a ton… View Now

Introducing Finmark 2.0!

It has been over 12 months since we released version 1.0 of Finmark to the world. Since that time, we’ve made several… View Now

How to Create a Marketing Budget From Scratch

Things are going well in startup land. You’ve just received your first round of funding from a venture capitalist, and a portion… View Now

You Got Funded, Now What?

Getting funded is an important milestone that’s worth celebrating. However, getting funded isn’t a finish line, it’s a beginning. The steps you… View Now

6 Benefits of Financial Modeling You’re Overlooking

What makes a startup exciting? Most of the time, it has to do with the “big idea” – the vision to create… View Now

10 Tips for Networking With Investors

By and large, the majority of hugely successful ventures are companies that were successful in raising funding from VCs or angel investors.… View Now

How to Write Investor Emails That Get a Response

As a startup founder, how many emails do you get every month? 200? 500? 1,000? Things are getting pretty hard to manage… View Now

How to Create a Pitch Deck Investors Want to See

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from “VC Twitter”, it’s that a lot of founders struggle to create great pitch decks. After… View Now

6 Financial Modeling Mistakes to Avoid

Creating a financial model is part science and part art. The science is ensuring all your numbers and calculations are correct. The… View Now

How to Build Your Investor Pipeline (+ Free Template)

Partnering with your cofounder, landing your first customer, officially going to market; There are many milestones in a founder’s journey. Perhaps one… View Now

How to Pitch Investors: 14 Tips to Get Your Startup Funded

So, you’ve landed yourself a spot to sit down (or stand up) with an investor and pitch them your startup idea. Congrats!… View Now

How to Raise Pre-Seed Funding: A Guide for Founders

Founding and growing a company is filled with exciting, daunting, motivating, challenging, and, at times, anxiety-inducing experiences. One such experience that ticks… View Now

Fundraising is Like Cruis’n USA: Top 5 Takeaways From Our Founder Institute Webinar

According to Finmark CEO Rami Essaid, raising your first round of funding is like plowing the road with your face. While that… View Now

Startup Funding Explained: Pre-seed, Seed, & Series A-D

You can have the best startup idea in the world, but unless you have the money to finance its growth, your idea… View Now

8 Ways to Find The Perfect Angel Investor For Your Startup

Thinking of getting angel investors, but not sure where to start? Where should you look? What questions should you ask them? How… View Now

Angel Investors vs. Venture Capital vs. Micro VCs: What’s The Difference?

Raising capital as a startup can be terrifying, especially for first-time founders with no real experience pitching to firms or networking with… View Now

How to Get Seed Funding – A Step by Step Guide for Founders

There’s a common problem many founders face: They’ve got a strong idea with real potential, the beginnings of a great team, and… View Now

Introducing… Formulas & Variables!

One of our top goals with Finmark is to create an easier, faster, and more collaborative way for companies to build financial… View Now

Founder Story: Playing Startup Poker with Justin Adams of Anduin

For our Kenny Rogers fans out there, here’s a question: What do “The Gambler” and a startup founder have in common? Answer:… View Now

Full-Time Employees vs. Contractors: Who Should You Hire?

We recently published a massive guide about hiring your first employees as a startup. I highly suggest reading it if you’re in… View Now

How to Find Your North Star Metric (80+ Examples)

The North Star metric framework helps startups get past the surface level of their product and put a more defined focus on… View Now

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Your First Employees at a Startup

Finding and hiring the first 5-10 employees at your startup is one of the most difficult tasks most founders face. That’s why… View Now

5 Financial Modeling Skills Every Founder Should Master

A lot of founders shy away from financial modeling because they’re intimidated. You might think that you need to have professional accounting… View Now

Founder Story: How Genevieve Ryan Bellaire Turned Real World Problems Into a Category-Defining Startup

What do Uber, Twitter and Airbnb have in common? Each is, generally speaking, a company that created (or optimized) a new business… View Now

5 Types of Budget Models (And How to Choose the Right One)

Creating a budget is the most exciting and thrilling part of running a business! Ok, maybe not. But it’s necessary if you… View Now

The Ultimate Guide to Rolling Forecasts

If you created a budget in December 2019, by April 2020 it was probably about as useful as a floppy disk is… View Now

5 Ways to Boost Revenue When Business is Slow

As a founder, there’s nothing quite as alarming as when sales slow down or unexpectedly decline. Cash is king in business and… View Now

Revenue vs. Profit: What’s The Difference?

Revenue and profit are two of the most important numbers on an income statement. Together they help tell the story of how… View Now

Founder Story: How Matt Redler Turned a “Hair-On-Fire” Pain Point Into a Hot Startup

Google “why do startups fail?” and you’ll see thousands of different reasons — from running out of money to co-founders butting heads… View Now

9 Popular Revenue Models Explained (And How to Pick the Right One)

Choosing a revenue model is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. It’ll impact how you set up, operate, and grow… View Now

How to Make Financial Projections for a Startup

Whether you’re starting a new business or making plans for an existing one, creating financial projections will give you a significant advantage.… View Now

Revenue Forecasting: 4 Step Guide

Picture this: You’re meeting with an investor and they ask you “what’s your expected revenue for the rest of this year?” You… View Now

7 Revenue Streams & How to Pick the Right Ones for Your Business

Your startup began with a great idea. And now, you have a business that’s generating revenue. Amazing! But how many revenue streams… View Now

How to Do Scenario Analysis: Step-By-Step Guide

Ask 10 founders how they grew their business and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. There is no one-size-fits-all path to growing… View Now

Founder Story: How Ruben Schultz is Attacking a $30 Billion Dollar Industry With Swoop

Many startup founders are born entrepreneurs. They grew up knowing how to hustle, how to come up with the next big thing,… View Now

Introducing… Xero Integration!

Over the past year, we’ve spoken to startups all around the world to learn more about their financial modeling needs. One piece… View Now

7 Financial Planning Tips for Startups

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That old adage really rings true when it comes to financial planning for… View Now

15 Startup Costs Every Founder Should Track

Whether you’re an early-stage startup or are just starting to put your business together, keeping track of the costs of running your… View Now

What Are The Best Financial Modeling Tools?

Trying to grow a successful startup without a financial model is like driving across the country without a map—it’s going to be… View Now

12 Ways to Extend Your Startup Runway (With Examples)

Before a plane can take off, it needs enough runway to pick up speed until it eventually soars into the air. Startups… View Now

Founder Story: How a Passion for the Startup Community Led Rami Essaid to Create Finmark

Building a successful startup is hard. So difficult in fact, that 90% of new startups fail and 50% never make it to… View Now

Budget vs Actuals (How to Compare & Analyze)

When it comes to financial modeling, comparing and analyzing your budget vs actuals is extremely important. You might think you know how… View Now

Budgeting vs. Forecasting: What’s the Difference? (And Why Both Are Important for Startups)

Do you know the difference between budgeting and forecasting? A budget and a forecast are two of the most important tools for… View Now

Revenue Drivers: A Guide for Startups

After hours of staring at your computer screen and fidgeting with spreadsheets, you finally did it. You built your revenue model! In… View Now

13 Startup Metrics to Keep a Pulse on Your Business

So many startups are focused on revenue to calculate growth, but the truth is that long-term success relies on so much more.… View Now

What is Financial Modeling?

Is your business growing, shrinking, or flat? When should you fundraise, and how much do you need? At your current pace, how… View Now

20 Startup Tools to Add to Your Tech Stack

Building a successful startup is hard. Creating your product, marketing it, engaging with customers, hiring a team, managing finances, and all the… View Now

10 Financial Metrics Every Startup Should Track

Whether you’re about to raise money, measuring KPIs, or planning for the future, there are certain financial metrics that every startup needs… View Now

Financial Modeling Templates Are Hurting Your Startup

You’re a founder about to fundraise. To prepare to meet with investors, you know you need to build a financial model to… View Now

Introducing The New Startup Glossary!

What is runway? Are you calculating churn correctly? What metrics do you need to know before meeting with investors? We’re excited to… View Now

Scenario Planning and Sharing: Endless Possibilities, Effortless Collaboration

We’ve written previously about why startups should care about financial modeling. A financial model that provides a clear line of sight into… View Now

Building the Foundation: What’s Needed for Today’s Early-Stage Startups

Startups are a unique breed. They’re the culmination of planning, preparation, hard work, and dedication to getting an idea off the ground.… View Now

Why Startups Should Care About Financial Modeling

Startups are a completely different breed. Building a company from the ground up while strategically scaling growth is a considerable challenge. But… View Now

Announcing our Seed Round!

Why do startups fail? This is a question entrepreneurs, investors, and market analysts find themselves asking each time another startup goes belly… View Now

Finmark Raises $5 Million in Oversubscribed Seed Round to Simplify Financial Planning for Startups

Today, we announced we have raised $5 million in seed funding. This oversubscribed coalition of investors and entrepreneurs who are invested in… View Now

How Entrepreneurs Can Help Find Their Next Big Idea

An entrepreneur’s job never stops. Actually, it’s more like an entrepreneur’s mind never stops. Once you have successfully built a multi-million dollar company, most… View Now

Why Every Young Entrepreneur Needs to Invest in Their Network

In our recent blog, we talked about the importance of surrounding yourself with coworkers who supplement your own strengths and weaknesses. Your… View Now

A Hiring Tip Every Founder Needs To Hear

Knowing who to hire and when is one of the biggest challenges for any early-stage startup. As you grow it becomes easier,… View Now

How Finmark’s Puts Entrepreneurs In Control Of Their Fundraising

In our recent blog, we talked about the concept of defaulting dead or alive. As a startup, you want your company to… View Now

Wanted Dead or Alive: The Importance of Runway

In business, you’re either growing or dying. A startup knows which path it is on by their runway. Your runway refers to… View Now

Why Should Startups Track Metrics?

Please have a seat, Dr. Founder. Let’s discuss some general advice that you need to keep in mind when launching and running… View Now

Finally a Financial Modeling Approach that Works for Every Entrepreneur

When it comes to creating a financial model as a startup, having confidence that you won’t run out of money is pretty… View Now

My Thoughts From This Year’s Y Combinator Demo Day

This week, Y Combinator hosted its Summer 2020 Demo Day — the first fully virtual two-day event full of two-minute overviews from… View Now

Finmark Will Help The Next Generation Of Great Startups

It was several years ago. I was in the middle of my wild ride taking Distil through the company building journey from… View Now

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