Going Public? 👀 Here’s Where You Start

Here’s the big question: Is your company financially healthy enough for an IPO launch?

The decision to take a company from private to public cannot be made overnight. A company with this path in mind needs to be prepared well in advance for this major step. IPO prep can take as little as 18-36 months if you lay a solid foundation, starting early. Even if your company, like many, is waiting for a more favorable market, the time to prepare is now.

Building data-driven finance operations and preparing your teams for the paradigm shift from public to private are two essential ingredients –– because meticulous planning and organization are the keys to stepping into the public spotlight the moment market conditions shift in your favor.

Technology: The Foundation of Any Public Offering

When thinking about their tech stack, most organizations think about the “sexy stuff:” 

• Warehouse management software

• Point of sale systems

• Project management solutions. 

But being able to, say, complete an SEC filing in three fewer days or halve the number of adjusting journal entries month over month is just as important –– these tasks are simply often less celebrated.

When joining the conversations surrounding preparing for an IPO, finance leaders should be prepared to bring up the benefits emerging technology can provide to the finance function. 

From shortening SEC filing times to halving the number of adjusting journal entries to monthly statements, there is no shortage of potential paths to benefit companies preparing to go public. 

Your responsibility: Build out that technology quickly so it can scale with your organization after the IPO.

Preparing for Your New Role

When a company goes public, its finance leaders are now public figures — the SEC and investors alike will be watching their decisions.

Preparing for this shift can feel daunting; here’s how CFOs can ready themselves for the changes in their professional (and personal) lives after their company goes public.

Don’t make the stock prices your end-all: It might sound rudimentary, but allowing stock prices to be your indicator of how the company is doing will not serve you well. Do your best to ensure stock prices are consistent, but remember that there are things that impact the market that are completely outside your control.

Embrace your new visibility: Your coworkers, associates, family and friends will learn new things about you: your salary, the scope of your role and public opinion about the work that you do. Some elements of this may be a challenge to get used to. But you become as public as the company does — find ways to embrace this as the next step forward in your career.

Practice accountability — and preach it too: Senior leadership should understand that technology-powered accountability measures are essential to the finance function. None of those measures should be seen as “behind the scenes” inner company workings; rather, they need to be top of mind in every conversation. Starting in the IPO preparation phases will ensure that it quickly becomes a habit.

Whether your company is going public in a month or thinking about it as part of a five-year plan, Donna Dellomo, former EVP and CFO and current Senior Strategic Advisor at Lovesac, offers valuable takeaways on the latest episode of The CFO Show.

In case you missed it…

The landscape of financial management is undergoing unprecedented changes, driven by technological advancements, global economic shifts, and the growing complexities of business structures. This necessitates a reevaluation of traditional financial frameworks and the adoption of innovative strategies to ensure sustained success in the competitive marketplace. Andy Young, CFO at Horwich Farrelly, joins us to examine the challenges of scaling up and proposes practical solutions to address them.

What’s next…

When you think of professional sports teams, you probably don’t think about the CFO… but they’re essential to the strategic success of the franchise. What’s more, what happens on the books can impact what happens during the game, as James Suh, CFO of the Florida Panthers, shares in his conversation with The CFO Show.