The Series A Financial Ops Accountability Gap

## The Series A Financial Ops Accountability Gap

You just closed your Series A. Your bank account has a real number in it. Your founding team feels like they can finally breathe.

Then you realize nobody owns the accounts payable process. Your product lead is approving $40K in vendor contracts without talking to anyone. Your CFO—whether that's you or someone new—doesn't know whether payroll is processing correctly until a founder notices something wrong.

This is the **series a financial operations** problem that nobody warns you about: you have processes, tools, and spreadsheets, but you don't have **accountability**.

We work with Series A startups constantly, and this is the hidden crisis beneath every other finance ops problem. You can have perfect accounting software, a beautiful dashboard, and compliant reporting—and still not know who's responsible for what or why a decision was made the way it was.

This article walks you through building an accountability framework that works at scale—before you need to hire that full-time Controller you think you need.

## What Financial Ops Accountability Actually Means

### The Difference Between Process and Responsibility

Your finance ops currently have **process**. You probably have:

- A monthly close process (even if it's chaotic)
- Vendor onboarding steps (even if they're ad-hoc)
- Expense approval workflows (even if they don't always work)
- Budget tracking (even if nobody looks at it)

What most Series A startups *don't* have is **responsibility**. That means:

- Nobody owns the monthly reconciliation and is accountable if it's wrong
- Approvals happen but there's no clear decision-maker and no record of why
- Vendor relationships exist but no one person manages vendor risk or contract terms
- Cash projections are built but nobody is responsible if they miss by 10%

Here's what we see happen: A founder asks "Why did we spend $15K on that marketing platform?" and nobody has a clear answer. Three people touched the approval, but nobody feels accountable. The vendor was added by someone who left. The contract hasn't been reviewed in a year.

This accountability gap costs you money, kills decision velocity, and becomes a real problem when you're raising your next round and investors ask tough questions about your financial controls.

## The Three Accountability Layers You Need

### 1. Decision Rights (Know Who Decides What)

Decision rights are simple: who gets to approve or reject what? But most startups never document this.

In our work with Series A companies, we usually set decision rights across these categories:

**Spending Authority**
- Sub-$2K: Department owner (whoever owns that budget category)
- $2K-$10K: Department owner + CFO/Finance lead
- $10K-$50K: CFO + CEO
- $50K+: CEO + Board input (if required by your funding agreement)

The specific numbers depend on your burn rate and Stage A size, but the **structure** is what matters. When someone wants to spend money, they know exactly who needs to approve it. No ambiguity. No informal approvals that nobody tracks.

**Vendor Management**
- Who can add a new vendor? (Usually department owner + one approval)
- Who approves contract terms? (CFO or legal, depending on your setup)
- Who owns the annual vendor review? (Finance, but needs input from users)
- Who makes the call to cut a vendor? (CFO + department owner)

**Hiring & Headcount**
- This one's critical at Series A. Who approves new roles? (Usually CEO + Board-level, depending on your funding agreement)
- Who owns the salary band framework? (CFO or People lead)
- Who tracks actual vs. budgeted headcount? (Finance, weekly)

**Financial Reporting & Close**
- Who owns the monthly close? (Your Controller or most senior finance person)
- Who reconciles each account category? (Specific person per category)
- Who signs off on monthly financials before they go to investors? (Usually CEO + CFO)
- Who is responsible if a number is wrong? (The person who owns that account)

### 2. Approval Workflows (Document How Decisions Happen)

Decision rights tell you *who* can approve. Approval workflows tell you *how* they actually approve.

The mistake most Series A startups make: they have Slack approvals or email chains, but nothing documented. Six months later, nobody remembers what the process was. New people join and guess.

Here's what we recommend setting up:

**For Spending Under Your Signature Authority Limit**

Use your accounting software's built-in approval workflow (Quickbooks, Netsuite, Expensify, etc.). The workflow should:
- Require a receipt or invoice
- Route to the right approver based on amount and category
- Log who approved and when
- Flag unusual spending patterns (same vendor repeatedly, seasonal spikes, etc.)

Why this matters: You have a permanent record. When auditors or investors ask, "How do you control spending?" you have an answer.

**For Larger Vendor or Contract Commitments**

You need a simple one-page approval form that includes:
- Vendor name and what they do
- Contract value and term length
- Who requested this vendor and why
- Business case (what problem does this solve? what's the ROI?)
- Who reviewed the contract (legal, security, finance)
- Approval chain (who signed off)

Store this in a shared drive or Airtable base that your finance person owns. When you renew the contract a year later, you have context. When you're cutting costs, you have a record of why each vendor exists.

**For Payroll**

This is non-negotiable at Series A: **nobody** should be able to change payroll without documented approval. Use your payroll provider's workflow (ADP, Guidepoint, Rippling, etc.) to:
- Require approval for new hires before they process their first paycheck
- Log all changes to compensation (raises, bonuses, etc.) with approval dates
- Flag anomalies (paycheck significantly different from prior month, etc.)

### 3. Ownership Assignment (Make it Personal)

This is where accountability actually lives.

For every major financial process or decision category, assign **one person** who is responsible. Not the person who does the work—the person who is **accountable**.

For example:

| Financial Area | Owner | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly close & reconciliation | Finance hire (or fractional CFO) | CEO |
| Payroll accuracy & compliance | People Lead or HR person | Finance |
| Vendor onboarding & contracts | Finance lead | CEO |
| Cash runway projection | CFO | CEO |
| Budget vs. actual tracking | Finance person | Department leads |
| Tax compliance & filings | Fractional CFO or accountant | CEO |
| Audit preparation (if applicable) | CFO | Controller-level person |

The owner is the person who:
- Knows how the process works
- Can answer questions about it
- Is accountable if something breaks
- Gets asked first if there's a problem
- Has the authority to make changes or exceptions (within limits)

At Series A, this is often your Finance lead or fractional CFO, with the CEO as backup for everything. That's fine—it's temporary. But the point is: **it's clear**.

## How to Build Accountability Without Hiring a Full Finance Team

You don't need a full-time Controller and accounting department at Series A. You need clarity.

Here's what we usually recommend:

### The Core Setup

**Month 1-2 Post-Funding:**

1. **Document decision rights** (write a one-page matrix)
- Spending authority by amount
- Vendor approval process
- Hiring approval path

2. **Set up approval workflows in your tools**
- Accounting software (Quickbooks Online, Netsuite, Expensify)
- Payroll provider (Rippling, Guidepoint, ADP)
- Vendor management (simple Airtable base works at Series A)

3. **Assign owners and backups**
- Create a one-page finance organization chart
- Make sure each person knows their accountability
- Document who covers when people are out

4. **Establish a monthly finance meeting**
- 30-minute CEO + Finance person sync
- Review: cash position, burn rate, month-end close status, any exceptions
- This forces accountability through conversation

### The Tools Stack (You Don't Need Much)

At Series A, we typically see:

- **Accounting software**: Quickbooks Online or Netsuite (depending on complexity)
- Build approval workflows for vendor payments and expenses
- Set up account reconciliation owner assignments
- Use it as your system of record

- **Spreadsheet for decision tracking** (yes, really)
- Monthly log of major spending decisions ($10K+)
- Who approved, on what date, business case
- This is your audit trail

- **Airtable or simple database for vendor management**
- Name, contact, contract value, contract end date, owner
- Annual renewal calendar
- What this vendor does and why we use them

- **Payroll software with audit logging**
- Rippling, ADP, or Guidepoint
- All payroll changes tracked and approved
- No manual workarounds

You don't need fancy workflows or a full ERP system. You need **clarity and audit trails**.

## The Accountability Ops You're Likely Missing

### The Monthly Close Owner Problem

In our work with Series A startups, the person responsible for closing the books is often the person least equipped to do it. It's a founder wearing a hat. Or it's the finance person who doesn't have authority to fix errors.

**Fix:** Your finance person owns the close. They have authority to:
- Ask for documentation (credit card statements, bank statements, invoice copies)
- Correct coding errors in the accounting system
- Flag unusual items and ask for explanations
- Push back if the numbers don't reconcile

They report to the CEO or CFO, but the close is their accountability.

### The Vendor Refresh Nobody Does

You have 30 SaaS subscriptions. Someone approved each one. But nobody knows which ones are actually being used or what the contract terms are.

**Fix:** Finance owns an annual vendor audit. Every contract gets reviewed:
- Is this still needed?
- Are we getting value?
- Can we renegotiate?
- Can we cut it?

Results go to the executive team in Q1 of each year.

### The Budget Variance Nobody Explains

Your budget said sales headcount would be $500K for the year. You're at $550K in month 6. Nobody explained why. Next budget cycle, the CFO just guesses again.

**Fix:** Finance owner is accountable for explaining any variance >10% from budget. Monthly review with the department lead:
- Why are we over/under?
- Is this temporary or structural?
- Do we need to adjust?

This forces real conversation and makes budgets actually useful.

## Red Flags That Your Series A Accountability is Broken

If any of these are true, you have an accountability gap:

- You can't explain why a major vendor exists or what you're paying them
- Spending decisions happen through Slack with no documented approval
- Multiple people touch payroll but nobody is clearly responsible if something's wrong
- Your monthly close takes longer than a week and you don't know why
- Nobody can tell you who approved the last three major hires
- You have no record of who negotiated your current vendor contracts
- Your budget is written once a year and never updated despite big changes in reality
- When an investor asks about financial controls, you stall or give a vague answer

## Building Accountability Into Your Financial Culture

Once you document decision rights and assign owners, the accountability actually grows from **behavior**.

In our work with successful Series A companies, we see three habits:

1. **The owner stays in the conversation.** When the CEO asks, "Why did we increase our AWS spend?" the finance owner or product lead owns the answer. Not a Slack shrug.

2. **Monthly sync becomes non-negotiable.** The 30-minute CEO + Finance meeting happens every month. Cash position, close status, exceptions, one big financial topic. This forces accountability through rhythm.

3. **Exceptions get documented.** When you override process (waive a signature limit, skip a step, make an exception), you document why. You learn from it later.

Accountability isn't about blame. It's about **knowing who to ask when something's unclear and trusting they have the answer**.

## When to Hire Your First Full-Time Finance Person

This framework gets you through Series A and into Series B. Eventually you need more.

Most of our clients hire their first dedicated finance person (beyond a fractional CFO) when:

- They have more than 5 major spending categories to track
- Monthly expenses exceed $100K
- They're planning their next funding round and need cleaner financials
- The founders can't spare 5+ hours per week on finance ops

When you hire that person, the accountability framework you just built becomes their foundation. They're not starting from scratch. They're stepping into a role with clear responsibilities.

## Your Next Move: Building the Accountability Map

You don't need a consultant to build this. You need 2-3 hours and a co-founder meeting.

Here's what we'd do:

1. **Print out this article.** Highlight the decision rights matrix and ownership table.

2. **Have a 90-minute founder meeting** where you answer:
- Who's actually approving what today (even if it's informal)?
- What's the biggest accountability gap right now?
- What are we worried about if we grow 3x in the next 12 months?

3. **Write your decision rights matrix** (one page). Who approves spending at each level? Who decides on vendors? Who owns hiring?

4. **Create your ownership table** (one page). For each major financial process, who is responsible? Who's the backup?

5. **Set up one approval workflow** in your accounting software this week. Start with vendor payments or expenses. Show your team how to use it.

6. **Schedule your first monthly finance sync.** 30 minutes. Same time every month. CEO + Finance lead. Agenda: cash, close status, exceptions, one strategic topic.

That's it. You're building real accountability, not just processes.

If you want to pressure-test this framework against your actual situation—your vendor relationships, your payroll, your cash position—[Series A Preparation: The Financial Operations Audit Founders Skip](/blog/series-a-preparation-the-financial-operations-audit-founders-skip/) helps Series A companies identify exactly where their accountability gaps live. We'll give you a custom accountability roadmap based on your actual financial setup.

But start with the framework. Start with clarity. The rest follows.