Accountant for tech and SaaS businesses: board-ready monthly numbers within ninety days
Accountant for tech and SaaS businesses with annual contracts to unwind, engineering payroll to split, and investors who expect the same numbers on the same date every month.
Most founders can tell you last month’s recurring revenue. Far fewer can tell you which plan tier still carries the margin once hosting and support sit against it. That number decides your next price rise, and it is already in your books.
Ardein is an outsourced finance function for owner-managed UK tech and SaaS businesses, run remotely from Chester by Gavin Jardine MIAB. It handles deferred revenue, engineering payroll, VAT, year-end accounts and the monthly investor pack. Fees are a monthly amount scoped to the work, and the handover from a current accountant is managed at no separate charge.
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
- IAB member (MIAB 292185)
- Anti-money-laundering supervised
- Established 2021
Three things you’d know before the next board call
Know which plan tier actually carries the margin
Hosting, support and engineering cost sit against revenue by plan, every month.
Sign off the next hire with the real run rate visible
Deferred revenue is separated from cash, so the bank balance stops flattering the plan.
Send investors the same numbers on the same date
The monthly pack runs to an agreed timetable and reconciles back to the books underneath it.
The decisions software founders make without the number that should decide them
Three of these come up in almost every first conversation with a software business.
- Price
“We put prices up across every plan at once, because nobody could tell us which tier was actually losing money.”
The enterprise tier was carrying the loss while self-serve subsidised it. Hosting and support had never been split by plan.
- Hire
“We hired two more engineers off a cash balance that turned out to be a year of annual contracts paid up front.”
Deferred revenue was sitting in the bank looking like profit. The real run rate showed up once the salaries started.
- Contract
“We signed a large annual deal at a discount, then spent nine months servicing it with an engineer we had never costed.”
Margin on that account was close to nothing. Delivery time was never mapped back to the contract that caused it.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
By day ninety the profit and loss shows what you have earned, not what you have invoiced. Engineering payroll is coded by project and by person, so the R&D position is evidenced rather than estimated. Cash, recognised revenue, debtors and margin by plan arrive on the same day each month. The next decision takes an afternoon instead of a quarter.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you this week how much of last month’s invoiced revenue you have actually earned, and what that means for the hire you are weighing, you have the wrong accountant
Answer three questions about the accountant you use now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you by Friday how much of last quarter’s invoiced revenue you have actually earned?
Could they show you margin by plan tier, with hosting and support costs already included?
Could they split engineering payroll by project without you rebuilding it in a spreadsheet?
The gaps are real, and they are the ones that decide pricing, hiring and what you tell investors. The review is where we find out how far back they run.
That is a reasonable position and most of it is fixable. Check the one you answered no to against the ninety-day sequence below, because it is usually the first thing to move.
You are well served and there is little for us to add. The guide to the first ninety days is worth reading if you want to compare routines.
What your year-end accountant gives you, and what it cannot answer in March
Both jobs matter. They answer different questions at different speeds.
A year-end accountant
Statutory accounts and corporation tax filed correctly.
A clear view of a year that has already finished.
Contact around the filing deadline.
Revenue recognised once, after the event.
A monthly finance function
Recognised revenue and margin by plan, every month.
Cash and run rate before the hire is made.
Queries answered promptly, reports on the agreed date.
Year end becomes a confirmation of records already clean.
Eight questions your numbers should answer before you decide anything
Read them as yes or no about the last decision you made.
- 01
Do you know how much of your invoiced revenue you have actually earned this month?
Without that, cash and profit are telling you two different stories.
- 02
Can you see margin by plan tier with hosting and support included?
Price rises go to the wrong customers when this is missing.
- 03
Is engineering payroll split by project before the R&D position is prepared?
Retrofitting it a year later is slower and weaker evidence.
- 04
Do you know the run rate for the next six months, not the bank balance today?
Prepaid annual contracts make cash look like headroom it is not.
- 05
Can you say which customers are late, and by how much, without opening the bank?
Debtor visibility is the cheapest funding a software business has.
- 06
Does your investor pack arrive on the same date each month?
Dates that move make the numbers look less certain than they are.
- 07
Do your management figures reconcile to the year-end accounts?
If they never have, one of them is not worth acting on.
- 08
Could you cost a large annual contract before you discount it?
Delivery cost decides whether the deal was worth signing.
The three things a software business usually needs sorting first
The rest of the finance function runs underneath these.
Annual contracts spread across the months they cover
Recognised revenue month by month, so the profit and loss shows what you earned and the balance sheet shows what you still owe in service.
Engineering payroll coded by project and by person
Salary cost mapped to the work it went into, so the R&D position is evidenced from the records rather than reconstructed later.
A monthly pack a board or an investor can question
Cash, recognised revenue, margin by plan, debtors and headcount cost, delivered on the agreed date and reconciled back to the books.
Entry 01
What day ninety actually commits us to
The onboarding sequence is fixed, and the end point is written down.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
What clients say
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
How a software business gets from invoiced revenue to board-ready numbers in ninety days
The order is the same every time, and each stage is finished before the next one starts.
You know what we are taking on, and so do we
Scope agreed, due diligence and AML checks done, records collected. If you already have an accountant or bookkeeper, we manage the handover.
The bank, the ledgers and the deferred revenue finally agree
Bookkeeping complete and reconciled, annual contracts spread across the months they cover, debtor and creditor balances that make sense.
Billing, payroll and month end each have an owner and a date
Engineering cost coded consistently by project, credit control on a routine, checks in place so the numbers hold without chasing.
You have the pack before the board asks for it
Cash, recognised revenue, margin by plan and headcount cost, on the same day each month, while there is still time to act on them.
Where this does not work
We do not take on cash businesses, whatever the sector.
We do not take on construction work that depends on CIS.
We walk away from anything illegal or reportable, and from clients who will not complete AML checks.
It does not work when an owner cannot explain their own business or say what they need from us.
If none of that applies, the review is where we find out what your records really look like.
Questions founders ask before they get in touch
Is the review a sales call?
No. It is a paid review of how your finance actually runs: your records, your reporting, your debtors, your payroll and your systems. You leave with the top five priorities and an indicative monthly structure. The fee is a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding if you go ahead.
We already have an accountant for our SaaS business, is it worth talking to you?
Most clients arrive with an accountant already. The accounts get filed, and nobody can say in March what last month’s margin was. An accountant for tech and SaaS businesses at this level is a monthly finance function, not a second filing service, so the two roles rarely overlap much.
What happens with our current accountant if we switch?
Ardein handles it. We write for professional clearance, collect the records, agree what the outgoing firm still completes and set a transition plan around your year end. The normal handover carries no separate charge, and you are not expected to chase anyone yourself.
Do we have to commit to anything long term?
The review stands alone and you can act on it with your existing accountant if you prefer. Ongoing work is a monthly engagement scoped to what the business needs. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month, so onboarding dates are agreed rather than assumed.
How do you handle deferred revenue for a subscription business?
Annual and multi-month contracts are recognised across the periods they cover, so invoiced cash and earned revenue are visible separately every month. That is done in the bookkeeping, not adjusted once a year, which is why the monthly numbers and the year-end accounts agree.
What does an accountant for tech and SaaS businesses cost?
A monthly fee scoped to the work, agreed once we have seen the records and understood how the business runs. It is driven by transaction volume, payroll size and how much reporting you want. The handover from a current accountant is not charged for separately.
Three ways to take the next step
Start the review
We look at your records and reporting, then agree what the first ninety days would cover and when they could start.
Find out what you’d know 02 · A question firstGot a question about deferred revenue or the R&D split?
Call or email Gavin directly and get a straight answer before you commit to anything.
Ask Gavin a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guide to the first ninety days sets out what changes each month and what we need from you.
Read the guides →