The real issue is the habit of treating finance as an afterthought.

When I recently saw a 25% gap between the investor report and the actual financial statement, I knew one thing for sure:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁.

Financial statement says one thing.

Investor report says another.

And everyone in the room is quietly wondering:

“Wait… which one is less wrong?!”

I’ve seen this movie so many times I could recite the script (with 97% on Rotten Tomatoes 🍅)

Here’s what happens when finance gets pushed off the priority list:

👎Nobody can say how much runway is left (give or take… several months?).

👎Cost drivers become mysteries (“marketing spend” could mean ads, kombucha, who knows)

👎Budgeting turns into a Vegas-style guessing game. Odds: not in your favor.

👎Forecasts get so optimistic they qualify as science fiction.

And the result?

𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟭:𝟰𝟳𝗽𝗺.

Brilliant founders who built incredible products suddenly find themselves drowning in spreadsheets. Because they try to explain numbers they don’t recognize.

Because the real issue isn’t a missing excel formula.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁.

You can’t fix a gap in numbers quickly with a new tab, a cleaner model, or your favorite YouTube tutorial.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀:

- Set up the processes, even before you need it.

- Ask the uncomfortable questions early.

- Connect the numbers with the business to control and steer the company.

And if you cannot do it or you are not good at it, find someone at a coctail party who genuinely enjoys explaining what EBITDA is.

If you want clarity, confidence, and control, finance can’t sit in the backseat.

It needs a real seat at the table from the very start.