Challenge

EBCFO wanted to free business owners from the daily operational grind. Their clients were being slowed down by spreadsheets and the lack of insight they provide. Dan Schmidt, the owner of the firm, wanted to provide better advice to help clients grow. He also wanted to empower his clients to check in on their progress themselves, to give them more confidence and help them work in real-time.

Solution

Futrli’s core is to provide real-time insights to business owners and advisors. Therefore, it was the perfect fit. EBCFO really stand out from their competitors with Futrli. US accountants have traditionally been reactive rather than proactive, so the firm is able to attract a vast array of clients.

Results

Futri gives certainty to clients and reassures them. The real-time forecasting functionality helps EBCFO start great conversations and the critical ‘what-if’ moments now involve much less guesswork. The team’s business owner clients can see the potential impact of all their decisions and make informed decisions with as much confidence as is possible to have.

Interview in full

EBCFO supply world class accounting, analysis and advisory services to the start-up and entrepreneur world. Its founding mission is to free business owners from the daily operational grind that can slow them down and prevent them from focusing on what they love: creating, solving problems and bettering lives.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, EBCFO setup and maintain a complete solution to the operational side of a company, so that each of their clients has a robust accounting and finance solution. Heavy tech integrators, EBCFO has long utilised the benefits of cloud accounting platforms such as Xero to streamline compliance procedures and reporting methods. Dan Schmidt, Founder at EBCFO, says:

“My company isn’t to help business owners look backwards. Futrli has allowed us to dramatically rework how we advise clients, we focus on the future and business growth and that’s where they see real value Traditionally, accountants present entrepreneurs with reams and reams of historical numbers about their business. But it’s rare these numbers are relevant to everyday decision making or clearly explained.

“Data is only valuable if it is understood and if it can be applied. Futrli not only helps identify the numbers that matter but allows you to present them with complete clarity to the client. So that even if numbers aren’t their strong point, they are left in no doubt what the figures mean for them. Clients can now have an understanding of their business like they’ve never had before.”

EBCFO give their customers access to their own personalised dashboards so that they can check-in in real-time on their financial status whenever they want and wherever they are. No matter the complexity or simplicity of a client’s organisational structure and company, EBCFO can utilise Futrli to build a dashboard that serves their exact needs.

“We have one client who is constantly on the go and always wants to check in with snapshots of where his business is at any moment in time,” explains Dan. “He needs to be able to take a quick look at his figures and get enough quality information to make an important business decision. With Futrli we’ve been able to do that.

“We’ve set up dashboards that clearly illustrate his costs across all the services he offers and across the different locations his firm works from. We’ve been able to illustrate, for instance, what his labour costs are for a job as a percentage of his finances. Then, if his firm is offered a new job, he can immediately have an understanding of what the costs and potential profits of that work are by looking at the data we’ve already set up. These kinds of metrics then both strengthen and speed up his decision making.”

Futrli has become such a key factor of EBCFO’s service, that it is a major factor in pitches for new businesses – Allowing Dan and his team to demonstrate the difference quality advisory services can make to a businesses ability to grow.

“Futrli has been a big selling point for us,” says Dan. “The dashboards we can create and offer to clients has really blown their minds. In the US it’s fair to say that accountants have tended to be reactive, rather than proactive. So this is a whole ballpark.

“So when we present clients with the visuals and functionality of our dashboards they are hugely impressed and immediately can grasp what it can do for their business and their profitability. So it directly brings in new revenue streams for us.”

Through the results Futrli has delivered, EBCFO has also been able to open up new and exciting conversations with existing clients that simply wouldn’t have occurred before – strengthening relationships and cementing loyalty.

“The bottom line is Futrli gives certainty to clients and reassures them,” says Dan. “The real-time forecasting functionality of Futrli instigates some great conversations and the critical ‘what-if’ moments now involve much less guesswork. With an efficiency simply not possible previously, business owners can see the potential impact of all their decisions and make informed decisions with as much confidence as is possible to have.”