Building a Kosovo-based finance team for a Berlin software company

The client, a Berlin-based software company that had recently closed a Series A round, was growing faster than its finance function. Bookkeeping was split between a part-time external bookkeeper and one of the founders. The month closed six weeks late, when it closed at all; investor updates were assembled by hand the night before a board meeting; and the founders had no reliable month-by-month view of their cash runway.

Building a full in-house team in Berlin was an option the company had considered, but it wanted to keep its fixed headcount focused on product and engineering. It needed:

• a monthly close on a fixed timetable, in its existing accounting software and chart of accounts;
• payables and receivables handled daily, with approvals staying with the founders;
• a board and investor reporting pack in a consistent format;
• a senior finance person who could own the numbers in conversations with investors.

We designed the engagement as an extension of the client's own team rather than an outsourced service that sat outside it.

Weeks 1 and 2: diagnosis and design

We reviewed the books, the chart of accounts, the approval flows and the reporting the investors expected. Together with the founders we agreed a close calendar, a division of responsibilities and the format of the monthly pack.

Weeks 3 and 4: team and handover

We assigned a dedicated team from our Prishtina office: two accountants for day-to-day bookkeeping and the close, supervised by a senior consultant, with CFO-level support from our partners for planning and investor reporting. The team worked in the client's accounting software, with access rights agreed with the founders, and took over the books from the previous bookkeeper through a documented handover.

From month two: a steady rhythm

• Invoices and receipts were collected through a single channel and processed daily, with AI-assisted reading and accountant review.
• Bank reconciliations were completed every week rather than at year end.
• The month closed on the fifth working day, followed by the reporting pack.
• A rolling cash forecast was updated monthly and reviewed with the founders.

Because the team worked Central European hours, questions were answered the same day, and the founders kept approval of every payment.

Within four weeks of the first call the team was working in the client's systems, and from the second month the books closed on the fifth working day.

• A predictable close. Month-end close on a fixed timetable, with reconciliations completed and reviewed every month.
• Better conversations with investors. A consistent board and investor pack, prepared from closed books rather than estimates.
• Visibility of runway. A rolling cash forecast that the founders review every month.
• Founder time back. The founder who had been doing the bookkeeping returned to running the business, while keeping approval of payments.

A finance team abroad works when it is part of the client's rhythm, not a mailbox for documents.