The RORA model

if FinOps is what we do, the RORA model is how we do it

Our model is the perfect solution for startups that have outgrown their accounting firm, but aren’t yet ready to hire a full team full time

Every accounting firm is doing it wrong ❌

Today almost every accounting firm works in the same way - they offer a fixed fee for a fixed list of monthly services

This sounds good in practice, but we think it has some serious downsides:

they are incentivised to spend as little time working with you as possible

the fixed services can only cover reporting - what startups really need is much more than that

startups do not have predictable list of things that need doing, no two weeks are the same

How the RORA model works ✅

We provide the right people in our partners [clients] teams, for exactly the amount of time they need

For some we’re their first finance team, starting at 1 day a week and gradually increasing from there

For others our teams plug a gap, helping existing teams navigate difficult pinch points that would otherwise send them under

But it’s not just the people on the invoice who work for them - they get our whole team in their corner

It’s better for people too 😊

In the old world accountants had to make binary choices: Practice or industry? Technical FC or analytical FP&A? Our model gives them the experience of working in a startup, all whilst supported by the resources and best practice of a wider team

They also learn much faster: by working in three, four or even five startups at once they accumulate a vast amount of experience

We take learning so seriously we mandate that every person in our team takes a full half day every week to spend on learning and development. Every month we come together to undertake more formal training days in person.

It’s a new way of working 🆕

The model also gives us flexibility to offer a new way of working:

the contractors we work with get the freedom of being their own boss but with the support of our model and team

rather than applying a one size fits all approach we give everyone who joins us the choice of how many days a week they want to work and how much holiday they want to take

My story

Working in an accounting firm

After I qualified as an accountant I made a beeline to working with startups

I loved the energy you get from working with founders, but we just weren’t set up to give them the support they wanted

I got in loads of trouble for putting too much “time on the code” after I invited my boss to speak with them

They wanted me to help them build a business but all we were set up to do was file the accounts

Posts and resources we’re proud of

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