Accounting Workflow

Helping Teams Achieve Operational Excellence With Accounting Workflow Automation

One of the best things about building software today is how rapidly a product can evolve. Here at FloQast, we make constant improvements to our application — and also roll out new product lines.

Since releasing our first product in January 2015, we have been able to rapidly grow our core application while also expanding our solution set with three new products — Flux, Analyze, and AutoRec. We continue to iterate on all of these solutions today and will do so, well, forever.

We have been fortunate to work with some of the most cutting-edge accounting departments in the world. Today, the likes of Zoom, Shopify, and Lyft close their books on FloQast. Their love of FloQast, combined with a forward-thinking technology mindset, means they are constantly looking for new ways to utilize FloQast. Last year, we increasingly began to learn more about how these teams and other clients are using FloQast for accounting workflows outside of the close process. 

While our checklist is designed specifically for the month-end close, we noticed some customers were hacking together our checklist functionality for a variety of downstream and offshoot processes — Financial Reporting, FP&A, Payroll, Audit Prep, SOX Compliance, PBC process, and more.

But why hack FloQast? There are other software vendors who offer checklists and workflow for these specific processes. Why not just use those?

When we asked why they decided to put everything in FloQast, the answer was pretty simple — all accounting workflows impact the close, we want everything documented in a single place, and your checklist is the best.

Wow, that makes a ton of sense. The implied statement is this: The close is such an important part of our overall accounting workflow that all tangentially-related workflow should also live in FloQast. They’re totally right; this makes life so much easier for them. Organization and centralized documentation are great things for efficiency.

In late 2019, we began work on our latest product line, which will be made available to clients at TakeControl today and generally available in November — and no, I’m not going to share details just yet. What I will tell you is this product automates some of the most annoying and time-consuming workflow that occurs all over accounting. The pain is acute during the close, but prevalent all month long.

This all got us thinking — are we selling ourselves short? We call FloQast “Close Management Software,” but the reality is we help manage a whole lot more than the close. Throw in AutoRec and our secret November product and we are also automating a significant amount of work.

Yes, we are seriously selling ourselves short with “Close Management Software.”

So, we looked inward. We surveyed all sorts of accountants — FloQast users and non-FloQast users to understand their perception of what our software does and why it matters. We demoed our current product, gave them a sneak peek at the next product line, and got their feedback. We then took this information and debated internally. After a few passes, it became clear that we need to change the name of our solution to fully explain the benefits.

After much discussion, we believe that we are best described as “Accounting Workflow Automation.”

Going forward, you will no longer hear “Close Management built by accountants for accountants to help close the books faster and more accurately.” 

Instead, you’ll hear “Accounting Workflow Automation built by accountants for accountants to help you work smarter, not harder.”

What’s changed? We help with way more than just the close — and we know this because our users told us.

What hasn’t changed? We’re by accountants, for accountants. We understand your challenges and want to make your job easier.

Onward and upward!

Michael Whitmire

As CEO and Co-Founder, Mike leads FloQast’s corporate vision, strategy and execution. Prior to founding FloQast, he managed the accounting team at Cornerstone OnDemand, a SaaS company in Los Angeles. He began his career at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles where he performed public company audits, opening balance sheet audits, cash to GAAP restatements, compilation reviews, international reporting, merger and acquisition audits and SOX compliance testing. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Syracuse University.