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By Henrik Grim, MD of Europe for Capchase, discusses why fintech startups might want to think twice before reducing their headcount in this period of economic uncertainty If you’ve been paying any attention to tech commentators recently, it will have been difficult to miss the coverage on the number of startups making layoffs or introducing hiring freezes at the moment. After explosive growth and the sky-high valuations of recent times, the current trend is a less positive one, and it is widely recognised that the fintech bubble of the past few years is beginning to burst. While money is still available, the market is becoming more risk-averse, with funding less easy to access and rounds less frequent. This means that founders are looking at how to control costs and manage their capital effectively to extend their runway for as long as possible. Many of these startups are looking to reduce their headcount, often following a period of rapid expansion as businesses benefited from ...

CEO and Founder of QA Madness, overseeing tech startups and seasoned players` business processes and software quality assurance globally. Recently, I discussed smart spending with my team. This conversation reminded me, once again, that taking care of your personal budget and taking care of your company's finances aren't much different. The contexts and figures vary, but the guiding principles are the same. Even though I'm not an accountant or financial advisor, my experience founding and running a software testing company has taught me valuable financial lessons that I believe could also help aspiring entrepreneurs: 1. Record your expenses. For personal matters, you can use a money management app. Be disciplined, and keep track of every single purchase you make. Create plenty of categories and subcategories to get a clear picture. Seeing a clear picture will make it much easier to plan the monthly budget in the future. It is equally important to record business ...

By Jennifer Barnes, the CEO of Optima Office, Inc, which provides accounting and HR services, from CFOs to bookkeepers, on a part-time basis.  In the first quarter of this year, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study found 80% of small business owners felt comfortable with their cash flow, but by April, that number had dropped to only 59%. On average, businesses have 27 days of cash flow. Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, many companies shut their doors. For a business, running out of cash while trying to pivot through this volatile and highly competitive market can be devastating. Here are seven tips for improving your business’s cash flow during this difficult time:  1. Leverage automation within your current systems.  If using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, make sure your accounting team is trained on all its automation features so they can spend less time on manual data entry. This frees them up to focus on more value-add tasks that help grow your...