Pay IQ: Outsourced CFO helps develop business cost-effectively
PayIQ is a software company specialized in digital ticket sales for public transport, helping companies achieve their sustainability goals through commuting benefits. Maria Kivilohkare from CFO Growth Partners Oy was first hired to take care of the company's financial matters. The role quickly expanded to business optimization, and today Maria acts as the company's outsourced CFO.
Market Disruptor
PayIQ has been a pioneer in the mobile ticket market for 10 years. The company caused a market disruption at the time of its founding when it began digitizing public transport ticket sales in Finland. According to the company's CEO Elena Lipchenko, PayIQ is still one of the market leaders in mobile ticket sales in Finland, offering a stable ticket sales platform for various stakeholders. Today, PayIQ's software enables public transport ticket sales in 67 cities and municipalities across Finland.
From Budgeting to EU Funding
The collaboration between CFO Growth Partners and PayIQ began when Maria was hired as an outsourced CFO to ensure that the company's financial matters were in order. At the beginning of the collaboration, Maria offered CFO services to PayIQ for only a few hours a week. After becoming familiar with the company's operations, Maria's role has expanded to cover numerous tasks from process descriptions to budgeting, cash flow forecasts, preparation of management group meeting materials, and investor reporting. In addition, Maria has assisted the company in obtaining public funding, such as Business Finland and EU support.
"Maria was originally brought in to take care of the company's finances. When I started as CEO, I asked her to also take on the role of controller and optimize the business from a financial perspective. For example, she brought a new time tracking system to the company, which helped us save by utilizing an existing solution and centralizing everything in one software."
New Tools for Management
Maria has also worked as part of PayIQ's management team. Chairman of the Board Esa Tervo especially appreciates Maria's active and solution-oriented attitude, which has brought a new kind of dynamics to the development of the company's financial management processes.
"Through the collaboration with Maria, the management team has received new shared tools and operating models to improve both productivity and cost management. More efficient collective action is motivating!" Esa says. According to Esa, an outsourced CFO is able to examine the company's finances from a more neutral perspective, without short-sightedness.
Valuable Team Member
PayIQ is a dynamic company that constantly looks for innovative solutions to shape the future. Working in a small team and a startup-style environment means that sometimes challenges can arise unexpectedly and require immediate attention. As CEO, Elena especially appreciates Maria's flexibility and availability even outside office hours.
"In a small team where we each handle several things simultaneously, it is not always easy to plan everything well in advance. Maria has been very helpful in overcoming challenges that appeared unexpectedly and required immediate action. I recommend Maria and CFO Growth Partners for small companies like us, SMEs, and companies that are in the startup stage or still looking for solutions on how to optimize business and strengthen it as cost-effectively as possible."