Skip to content

    CFO Tech Stack

    A CFO tech stack is the accounting, reporting and planning software a finance function runs on, chosen and connected so the same number means the same thing in every system.

    Capability

    How we help with CFO Tech Stack

    Buying tools is not building a finance stack.

    1. Fix the process before choosing the software

      A tool laid over a broken process automates the breakage and makes it harder to see. The first step is deciding how the work should run, then what could support it.

    2. Choose for the next two years, not the next ten

      A stack sized for a company five times larger costs more, takes longer to land and is usually abandoned. We select for the company as it will be at the next stage.

    3. Connect the systems so a number means one thing

      Accounting, billing, CRM, payroll and planning agreeing on what a customer is and when revenue is recognised, so the same figure does not differ by which system produced it.

    4. Automate last

      Reconciliations, dashboards and reporting automated once the process is stable, which is the point at which automation saves effort instead of entrenching a mistake.

    Buying tools is not building a finance stack.

    Where we have done this

    Climate Tech

    Capital Strategy for a Climate-Tech Founder

    Planned grants, a venture loan and equity, raised in stages, to give the company more months of cash without giving up more shares.

    24 months of runway secured

    FAQ

    Questions founders ask about CFO Tech Stack

    What is a CFO tech stack?

    It is the set of connected systems a finance function runs on: accounting, billing and invoicing, expense and payroll, planning and reporting. The stack is not the individual tools; it is how they agree with each other.

    Which tools should we use?

    It depends on the entity structure, the revenue model and what the team can actually operate. There is no single right answer, and the expensive mistake is almost never the tool chosen, it is choosing before the process is decided.

    When should a company invest in this?

    When manual assembly starts costing more than the software would, or when two systems have begun disagreeing about the same number. Before either of those, a spreadsheet is usually the honest answer.

    Will this replace our finance team?

    No. It removes assembly work and returns time to analysis. A stack without people to interpret it produces dashboards nobody acts on, which is the most common way this investment is wasted.

    What our research says about CFO Tech Stack

    A company that has accumulated tools without designing the architecture connecting them has not built a finance stack. It has built a software inventory.

    Srikar Kedarisetty, in Buying Tools Is Not Building a Finance Stack

    The people behind CFO Tech Stack

    CFO Tech Stack is run by the studio team: one multidisciplinary team whose pods work in tandem, matched to the sector and the stage the company is in.

    Srikar Kedarisetty

    FinOps: CFO Office pod

    Led by Srikar Kedarisetty

    Lead, FinOps & Transformation. Manages cash flow and financial control.

    See the pod structure
    Studio TeamThe operators, investors and builders who run engagements end to end.Meet them

    Where we apply CFO Tech Stack: the industries this capability serves

    What usually runs alongside this