Scaling a finance function isn't just about hiring more accountants or upgrading your ERP. It involves a fundamental shift in how data flows, how decisions are made, and how value is defined across the organisation.
In our work with high-growth companies across Africa and the UK, we often see the "mid-size trap": processes that worked perfectly at £5M revenue start to crumble at £20M. The instinct is often to add more people, but this usually leads to complexity, not clarity.
The Challenge of Scale
When organisations grow, the volume of transactions increases linearly, but the complexity of relationships increases exponentially. You are no longer just tracking cash; you are managing currency risk, navigating multi-jurisdictional tax laws, and aligning diverse stakeholder expectations.
"Complexity is the silent killer of growth. The goal of finance ops is not to manage complexity, but to eliminate it."
Without a deliberate strategy, finance teams become bottlenecks. Closing the books takes longer. Insights become retrospective rather than predictive. Trust in the numbers begins to erode.
The 3A Framework: Align, Automate, Analyse
To break through the mid-size trap, we recommend the 3A Framework. This isn't a software implementation guide; it's a mental model for structuring your operations.
1. Align
Ensure your chart of accounts and data definitions map directly to your business drivers. If your P&L doesn't reflect how your CEO thinks about the business, you have an alignment problem.
2. Automate
Ruthlessly automate transactional work. If a human is touching an invoice more than once, something is wrong. Use modern tools to handle the high-volume, low-value tasks.
3. Analyse
Shift your high-value talent to analysis. The role of the finance team should evolve from "scorekeeper" to "strategic partner."
Automation vs. Autonomy
There's a subtle difference between automating a task and creating an autonomous system. Automation replaces a keystroke; autonomy replaces a decision.
For example, automating an expense report approval is good. But creating a system where expenses within policy are auto-approved and only exceptions are flagged? That's autonomy. That's scalability.
Conclusion
Scaling finance operations without slowing down requires courage to redesign processes that feel comfortable but are no longer fit for purpose. It demands a shift from "control" to "enablement."
By focusing on clarity, reducing friction, and empowering your team with the right tools (and the right mindset), you can build a finance function that doesn't just keep up with growth—it accelerates it.
| Test | Number |
|---|---|
| Good | 400 |
Answer
Answer 2
