Step 4: Sync Finance and Ops Monthly

Bring finance and ops together monthly to review forecasts, headcount, pipeline, and operational shifts. These working sessions keep both teams aligned, forward-looking, and fast-moving without friction.

Why This Matters

At Series B, execution speed is critical but precision is what sustains scale.
Monthly syncs create a shared mental model, reduce reactivity, and ensure that budget, hiring, and strategic plans reflect reality — not assumptions.

Key Activities

Block monthly 60-minute working sessions with finance + ops leads
Review:
Forecast vs. actuals (revenue, opex, headcount)
Operational shifts (onboarding bottlenecks, vendor changes)
Upcoming initiatives or risk areas
Stress-test assumptions behind hiring plans, big bets, and pipeline growth
Update forecast or scenario plans as needed
Document and assign follow-ups

Common Mistakes

Treating these as status updates instead of working sessions
Only involving execs — leave out key functional leads
Assuming forecasts are “set” rather than living tools
Ignoring operational signals that contradict financial models
Not using insights to influence hiring, vendor, or roadmap decisions

Signals You're Doing It Right

Forecasts adjust based on real-world signals
Hiring and spend plans evolve from shared assumptions
Ops and finance speak a common language around metrics
Risk areas are caught before they become emergencies
Functional leaders are bought into both financial and operational plans

Red Flags

Finance and ops leaders are surprised by each other’s plans
Budget and hiring plans are disconnected from ops reality
Team leads don’t understand assumptions behind the forecast
Adjustments are made late, or not at all, because of lack of communication
Forecast is only updated once per quarter, regardless of changes

Who Should Own This

COO and CFO, with participation from functional department leads