Building Investor-Grade Finance from Day One: Stratix Advisory

Start with understanding the investor, not just showing the company status quo

Stratix often works with founders who have a misaligned perception of who the right investor may be when in reality, their business is not a fit at all for that specific investor.

"We start with who the investor is, not what the company wants to say," Brian explains. "I've worked with so many businesses where they say they want to work with a tier 1 investor. But that doesn't mean every business is a good fit for that specific person." This is often driven by a misunderstanding of the specific types of businesses certain investors look for (i.e. a generalist business services company is most likely not the right fit for a high growth SaaS focused investor.)

Most CFOs build financial narratives by organizing company data into a compelling story. Stratix Advisory inverts this. Given their sell-side experience, they map their client’s business to meet specific investor theses first, then construct the financial infrastructure and outputs to best answer the questions those investors will ask. This matters because fundraising processes fail more often from misalignment & misunderstanding than from weak numbers.

Stratix Advisory approaches every financial model and KPI by asking: what would break this in diligence? The standard approach treats monthly closes as the finish line. Brian's team treats them as the starting point for building diligence materials. "Being proactive and having everything at your fingertips serves you better than scrambling to pull things together when diligence calls come in."

The practical impact: companies enter fundraising already holding the answers to investor questions rather than discovering gaps under time pressure. This isn't about financial gymnastics or creative accounting. It's about anticipating which metrics matter to your specific audience and ensuring those metrics are airtight before anyone asks.

What transaction-ready actually means day to day

Clean monthly closes are table stakes for venture-backed businesses. Stratix Advisory focuses on the data that helps founders run the business and understand how to reach the next level. Their models and KPIs function as live tools, not static files built once annually and maintained quarterly.

"We're preparing books and running the organization alongside the other operators, but we're also creating diligence materials proactively," Brian notes. The distinction matters because traditional finance functions operate reactively—closing books, then figuring out what story the numbers tell. Stratix Advisory embeds diligence thinking into daily operations.

This approach recognizes a fundamental truth about fundraising: the company that controls the process controls the outcome. When investors request materials and receive them within hours rather than days, it signals operational maturity. When founders can explain variances without consulting their finance team, it demonstrates command of the business. These subtle signals compound during diligence.

Companies that stay ahead of the curve maintain control during fundraising processes. Those that fall back let the process steer them, typically producing worse outcomes. The difference often comes down to whether finance was built for investor scrutiny from the beginning or bolted on later when fundraising pressure arrived.

Furthermore, even clients of Stratix that are not raising still benefit from transaction readiness. It is good operating hygiene and more productive for management to have a strong grasp of the financials & KPIs which Stratix views as the lifeblood of the organization. Transaction readiness means the operator / management have the ability to react to that unsolicited offer in real time, or course correct when business surprises pop-up.

Series B to Series C: proof points replace potential

The investor mix shifts dramatically between Series B and Series C, and most companies underestimate how this impacts what matters financially.

"At the Series B to Series C transition, you get a different mix of investors coming to the table," Brian explains. "They're looking for consistency, predictability, unit economics, and accountability."

Early stage investors underwrite potential. They accept volatile growth, unpredictable burn, and evolving business models because the valuation and upside justifies the risk. Later stage investors underwrite proof points. They need evidence that the business model works at scale, that unit economics hold as you grow, and that management can forecast accurately.

This shift forces a complete rebuild of how finance operates. Forecast accuracy becomes non-negotiable because investors use it as a proxy for management quality. Revenue recognition needs to follow GAAP standards precisely because later stage investors won't accept approximate accounting. Cohort analysis, customer acquisition economics, and retention metrics need historical depth because one quarter of data proves nothing.

The companies that struggle at this transition are the ones that treated their finance orgs early on as "good enough" without recognizing they were creating operational debt. Fixing a poorly structured chart of accounts or rebuilding revenue recognition systems during Series C fundraising is like remodeling your house while showing it to buyers. Stratix Advisory sees this pattern constantly—companies that saved money on finance at Series A spend multiples of those savings on cleanup at Series B or C.

The finance function holds back growth when management can't answer basic questions

Brian sees a clear pattern when a company's finance operations constrain their fundraising. These constraints tend to be more common than most founders realize. Brian highlighted a few of the most common pitfalls Stratix contends with when preparing a company for the growth stage.

Management can't answer fundamental questions confidently: This goes beyond not knowing your cash position or revenue trajectory. It's the follow-up questions that kill momentum. An investor asks about customer acquisition cost, you provide the number, then they ask how it's trended over the past six quarters and whether it varies by channel. If you need three days to come back with an answer, you've signaled that finance isn't a strategic function.

Founders constantly redefining their core KPIs. "Early stage founders are figuring out which KPIs are best to manage the business. But when you're redefining those metrics quarter over quarter and then go out for a fundraise, you don't have any lineage or history to point to. That signals weakness."

The insight here is subtle but critical. Investors don't just evaluate your current metrics—they evaluate your consistency in tracking them. Changing definitions suggests you're still figuring out what drives the business. That's acceptable at seed stage. At Series B, it reads as lack of operational maturity.

Diligence becomes so consuming that founders lose focus on core operations: Getting stuck in a diligence wormhole prevents teams from running the business while trying to raise capital. This happens when finance infrastructure wasn't built for investor scrutiny. Every question requires custom analysis rather than pulling from existing reports. The entire leadership team gets pulled into finance work that should have been handled proactively.

The companies that avoid these traps think about finance differently from day one. They don't build for today's board meeting. They build for the diligence process they'll face in 18 months.

Tools that deliver value in startup finance operations

Stratix Advisory relies on several platforms that create measurable efficiency gains. LiveFlow provides a proprietary ERP system as well as live integrations with QuickBooks and Xero, allowing teams to refresh financial models in real time as transactions get booked. "When we're building dynamic models for fundraising or internal operations, you're linked up in complete parity with what's in the system," Brian explains. This matters particularly for cash management and when multiple team members need to work from the same financial data without version control chaos. LiveFlow enables Stratix to work seamlessly across the various ERP systems while being less disruptive to the client’s business and allowing for a tech-first, digital experience.

Zamp handles sales tax compliance. Sequence manages AR and revenue recognition. Modern platforms eliminate the reactive scramble that characterizes weaker finance functions, but many companies adopt them too late. Stratix Advisory implements them early, before bad habits form. The best approach is progressive: start with solid basics, then layer in complexity as the business scales.

VP of Finance executes, CFO owns outcomes

Brian draws a sharp distinction between roles that most founders miss when building their finance team.

"A real CFO anticipates investor concerns, board questions, and operational questions within the business. They get ahead of those and address them before anything comes up."

VPs of Finance focus on execution. They ensure books close on time, reports get distributed, and processes run smoothly. CFOs shape narrative. They translate numbers into strategic insights, anticipate external questions, and position the company for its next milestone. Stratix usually sees the “VP of Finance” role as earlier stage companies (pre-Series B). CFOs tend to show up when companies reach scale and operational maturity, and are seeking the larger exit or IPO.

The difference shows up most clearly in fundraising and boardroom processes. A VP of Finance prepares the board deck. A CFO writes the narrative that frames how the board interprets the numbers. A VP of Finance answers diligence questions. A CFO anticipates which questions will come and has answers ready before they're asked.

This matters for hiring decisions. Many companies bring in a CFO title when they actually need strong finance execution. The result is either an overqualified operator doing tactical work or an underqualified strategist struggling with technical accounting. Stratix Advisory helps companies navigate this by providing CFO-level strategic thinking while handling the full execution stack, letting companies scale without premature hiring.

Finance is the lifeblood, not the back office

"No one thinks about accounting or finance as being a sexy function," Brian acknowledges. "In today's high tech world, everything has been pushed towards tech and product."

His contrarian take challenges this hierarchy. Finance connects the fabric of the entire organization across departments. Done well, it becomes the trusted function where difficult conversations happen productively rather than creating friction.

The companies that get this right use finance as a forcing function for operational excellence. When finance asks product why CAC increased 40% quarter-over-quarter, it surfaces problems that might otherwise hide until they become existential. When finance projects a cash crunch in eight months, it creates urgency for revenue initiatives that marketing and sales might deprioritize.

"We look for how we can thrill and delight our customers. I know that's a funny thing to say coming from the finance function, but it's something we really believe." This philosophy shows up in how Stratix Advisory approaches client relationships. They don't position themselves as gatekeepers or bean counters. They position as operating partners who happen to specialize in the financial function.

The shift in mindset matters because finance suffers from a credibility problem in many organizations. Teams see finance as the department that says "no" or slows things down with process requirements. When finance earns trust by delivering insights that accelerate growth and anticipating problems before they hit, it becomes a strategic asset rather than a compliance burden.

The takeaway

Companies that treat finance as investor preparation from day one enter fundraising processes in the driver's seat. They answer questions confidently, maintain operational focus during diligence, and command better terms. Those that treat it as reactive bookkeeping scramble to fill gaps when capital needs force them to the table, often at the worst possible moment.

The pattern plays out repeatedly: companies that spend money on finance infrastructure early spend less total capital on finance over their lifetime. Companies that cut corners end up paying for extensive cleanup projects at precisely the moment when leadership bandwidth is most scarce—during fundraising or acquisition processes.

Sequence automates revenue recognition and billing for companies building investor-ready finance operations. Book a demo if you want to learn more.