Welcome to Future Ledger by Light.
This is our inaugural newsletter, where every two weeks, we bring you insights that matter to modern finance leaders.
Today, we're writing about the realities of global expansion - which happens to be the focus of our upcoming Global Finance Tour stop in Stockholm. Join us and AWS on February 20th, where we're bringing together 40+ Series B-D SaaS leaders, including:
Joakim Lundqvist (CFO)
Jonathan Sanders (CEO)
Sarah Beskow (VP Accounting)
Save your seat: light.inc/event-stck-global-finance-tour
Are we always cynical? Or are trust and visibility issues problems even in the best of times? As we discuss in this email, expanding markets doesn’t make it any easier.
While global expansion excites CEOs, boards, and sales teams, finance departments face complex challenges that can make or break international success.
Here are the three major hurdles finance teams encounter during international growth:
The Multiple Jurisdictions Problem
International compliance adds layers of complexity beyond domestic regulations. Finance teams must navigate different legal frameworks and reporting requirements across borders. This includes:
Managing multiple financial reporting standards simultaneously (IFRS, local GAAP, and industry-specific requirements)
Handling misaligned tax reporting cycles and local audit requirements across countries
Managing director responsibilities, including the requirement for EEA-resident directors in European countries who bear personal liability for compliance
The Cash Flow Problem
International operations complicate cash flow management beyond simple tracking. Teams must coordinate multiple currencies, banking systems, and timing across entities while maintaining clear visibility of global cash positions. Key challenges include:
Limited visibility across different banking relationships and jurisdictions
Complex currency management, including exchange rate monitoring and market volatility protection
Traditional forecasting limitations when dealing with multiple entities and varying business cycles
Operational impacts like delayed payments due to local currency shortages and missed opportunities from cash being stuck in wrong locations
The Visibility Problem
Data confidence is a significant issue in global financial operations. According to statistics:
86% of global financial services institutions lack confidence in their data-driven decision-making
40% of CFOs don't completely trust their organization's financial data accuracy
Only 2% of C-suite executives have complete confidence in cash flow visibility
Common data challenges include:
Delayed access to critical information (37% of teams)
Inability to retrieve data from all necessary sources (33%)
Receipt of data in unusable formats (32%)
These visibility issues create cascading problems:
Extended bookkeeping timelinesIncreased compliance risks
Delayed strategic decisions
Technology gaps (only 30% of companies use cloud-based solutions for financial data)
Progressive finance teams are addressing these challenges by implementing unified platforms that provide comprehensive visibility across all entities, enabling better decision-making through actionable financial insights.
The Leaders Who’ve Done It
Alright, so what about success stories? How do you build a world-class finance function that scales globally?
We’ve put together an expert panel that has done just that.
We still have seats available for our Global Finance Tour in Stockholm, co-hosted by AWS.
Our panelists will share their real experiences on:
Building and scaling international operations
Navigating cross-border challenges
Managing distributed financial teams
Future-proofing your finance function
Register here: light.inc/event-stck-global-finance-tour