FloQast is an Accounting Automation Platform created by accountants for accountants that enables organizations to automate a variety of accounting operations. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FloQast co-founder and CEO Mike Whitmire to learn more about the company.
Mike Whitmire’s Background
What is Mike Whitmire’s background? Whitmire said:
“Before creating FloQast, I was an accountant myself. Specifically, I worked with Ernst & Young in Los Angeles for about four years, auditing financial statements for private and public companies. After leaving E&Y, I was the fifth person in the accounting department at Cornerstone OnDemand, also located in Los Angeles, for about three and a half years. There, I had the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience with the IPO process. Both of these experiences had a significant impact on me and played a determining factor in my decision to go off and start my own company.”
Formation of FloQast
How did the idea for FloQast come together? Whitmire shared:
“My work at Cornerstone OnDemand presented me with numerous challenges – many of which are felt by accounting teams everywhere. For instance, a lack of project management tools and visibility into where employees were with the month-end close made it challenging to manage people and workload and cost us exceptional time and resources. There were times when, in order to gain visibility into where we stood with the close, we were required to have status update meetings with over 30 employees to discuss deadlines, tasks, and other small details. This was my lightbulb moment – I knew there had to be a way to streamline these processes and make lives easier for accountants and controllers.”
“Since two out of the three co-founders for FloQast, myself included, are former CPAs, we took the challenges we encountered in our accounting roles and set out to develop the tools and technology vital to assisting accounting teams with processes and tasks like the month-end close, reconciliation, team management and organization, compliance and internal controls, and audit preparation. From this, FloQast was born in 2013 as a resource created by accountants for accountants, and we haven’t stopped growing since.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Whitmire’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Whitmire reflected:
”We hit a significant milestone recently – FloQast officially surpassed $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). We were always confident we would eventually reach this goal – in fact, when my co-founders and I were still mapping out what FloQast would look like, we frequently worked off a whiteboard, and I had literally written “$100M ARR” on the corner as one of our end-goals. But now having actually met our long-time goal, I can say this has been an incredibly special and humbling experience. This could not have been possible without the combined efforts of every individual and group within FloQast. It’s a milestone that has made me all the more grateful and proud of our company and excited for all the accomplishments we have yet to achieve.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Whitmire explained:
“FloQast’s current offerings include FloQast Close, FloQast Reconciliation Management, and FloQast Compliance Management, just to name a few. With these solutions, teams can utilize the latest advancements in AI and automation to manage every aspect of the month-end close, reduce their compliance burden, stay audit-ready, and improve accuracy, visibility, and collaboration throughout the financial function.”
“Our current offerings improve how accounting teams across all industries operate by streamlining everyday workflows and automating tedious processes. As workflows are simplified, streamlined, and made more efficient, they give accountants time to focus on more strategic aspects of their jobs, which improves their work-life balance and makes for a more fulfilling career.”
Challenge Faced
What challenges have Whitmire and the team faced in building the company? Whitmire acknowledged:
“I’ve found that some of the biggest challenges accounting teams face include ongoing talent shortages and frequent burnout. These challenges need to be addressed quickly. The worse burnout gets for workers, or the longer gaps in talent go unfilled, the more likely we’ll see people leave the industry in droves. That’s why much of FloQast’s current product offerings and initiatives have been created with the intent of offering solutions to obstacles faced by accountants.”
“Take a look, for instance, at our Controller’s Guidebook research series, which provides an in-depth look at the lives of accountants, including their struggles, career aspirations, and goals. Our research found, for instance, that 99% of accountants are suffering from some level of burnout, and 57% of accountants agree that the yearly and monthly Close are in desperate need of modernization. Accountants can reduce burnout in their lives through the right technological solutions and tools to help modernize the Close and streamline specific processes.”
Evolution Of FloQast’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Whitmire noted:
“Initially, FloQast aimed to provide solutions for accounting teams around the month-end Close. However, ten years later, our scope has widened tremendously, and as a result, we have evolved our technology accordingly. FloQast’s offerings now assist the entire office of the CFO, including accounting, finance, and compliance teams. FloQast aims to help all teams improve their reporting, organizational skills, and auditing and filing requirements, regardless of industry.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Whitmire cited:
“The launch of FloQast Studios was a big moment for us. FloQast Studios is the first-ever entertainment studio that creates content specifically for accountants, including shows, short video sketches, podcasts, and even music videos. It gave us a platform to let the world know that accountants are more than the typical ‘bean counter’ stereotype. One of our first major projects was our web series PBC, which takes the viewer into the accounting department of a fast-growth, tech start-up company and includes notable alumni from The Office, Pitch Perfect, and even Danny Trejo. I’m proud of the series, which gives viewers a humorous look into the trials and tribulations of accounting teams everywhere.“
“We’re also incredibly proud of FloQademy, an educational initiative that provides free resources for accounting professionals that we’re still expanding. FloQademy empowers current professionals to continue learning relevant skills for their careers and beginners to build their financial literacy. Many of the resources available on FloQademy pertain to engaging demonstrations, customer case studies, videos, and knowledge checks, and FloQast certifications, formalizing skill attainment. It’s an accessible, up-to-date way for individuals to strengthen their accounting skills and knowledge.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Whitmire about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We’ve had great success with Cricut, a Utah-based consumer crafting platform. When their team first began leveraging our solutions, Cricut was in the beginning stages of preparation to go public – in the middle of the pandemic. As you can imagine, given the shift to remote work and all the materials required to be handled from an accounting perspective, it would not be an easy feat.”
“Cricut utilized FloQast’s services, specifically FloQast Close and Variance Analysis, to monitor and manage reconciliations and checklists effectively through their IPO process. Additionally, Cricut utilized FloQast’s Compliance Management to manage post-IPO compliance reports effectively and cost-efficiently. In turn, Cricut was able to automate and centralize its financial processes accordingly, achieved more than a 30% decrease in Close time, centralized its SEC and SOX filings, and established a robust framework for compliance reporting.”
Funding
When asking Whitmire about the company’s funding and revenue details, he revealed:
“This recent $100 million Series E funding was backed by ICONIQ Growth, BDT & MSD Partners, and WiL (World Innovation Lab), alongside continued participation from Meritech Capital and Sapphire Ventures. With this funding, I’m proud to announce FloQast achieved a $1.6 billion valuation. This is in addition to our momentous announcement earlier this year about reaching $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), a goal we’ve had set for a while for FloQast, and are pleased to have finally reached.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Whitmire assessed:
“While we do want to eventually IPO and this funding round will undoubtedly help to propel FloQast towards that goal, this series round was more about investing heavily in our products, including the advancement of AI integration within our offerings. We won’t speak to an exact timeline for when we’ll IPO, but this investment will play a significant role in how we will eventually approach the process and the story we will tell.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Whitmire affirmed:
“We’ve outperformed several of our competitors in several areas. The FloQast platform has been recognized as easier to set up, having a higher average user adoption and a higher quality of support, and it requires significantly less time to go live. Where some organizations take several months, FloQast, on average, really only needs a little over a month. Customers have cited higher satisfaction with our platform, which we take in great stride.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Whitmire pointed out:
“Our primary focus is to invest heavily in our product and continue to execute the platform vision. We want to provide more resources and value to the controller by leveraging the data that lives inside of the Close to enhance upstream and downstream workflows and target areas where automation can lend a hand.”
“As more organizations begin to embrace the power of AI, we are also working to integrate AI into the workflows of a finance and accounting team. Don’t get us wrong; humans will continue to play a significant role in accounting even as AI is integrated, and applying AI uniformly across departments may not be the solution that all teams are looking for. Nevertheless, we recognize that AI has significant potential in the office of the CFO.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics to discuss? Whitmire concluded:
“This funding announcement only marks the beginning of a new chapter for FloQast. As we continue to progress in our mission to provide streamlined, efficient solutions for accounting teams across all industries, we’re looking at this as an opportunity to expand our solution offerings, reach new geographies, and enhance the overall customer experience. Look for much more to come!”
