Finance processes that worked at £2m of revenue may not work at £20m.
As a business grows, manual workarounds multiply. Data sits in different systems. Reporting depends on linked spreadsheets. Month end becomes slower. Finance spends increasing amounts of time reconciling information instead of analysing it.
That is usually a signal that the finance operating model needs to evolve.
Finance transformation does not have to mean a large ERP programme.
The starting point should be the problem: which decisions are being slowed down, where is data unreliable, which processes consume too much time and which controls no longer fit the size or complexity of the business?
Technology and automation can improve the efficiency and timeliness of finance processes, but automating a poor process simply makes the poor process run faster. Process design, data quality, ownership and controls need to be considered alongside the system.
Often the most effective transformation is incremental: standardise the process, remove unnecessary steps, establish clean data, automate repeatable activity and improve the information that reaches management.
The aim is not automation for its own sake.
The aim is a finance function that produces reliable information efficiently and has enough capacity left to support commercial decision-making.
Closing thought
A growing business should not need to wait for finance to catch up before it can make a good decision.