A Lasting New Year’s Resolution: Finance Strategy

As each new year approaches, we get calls from early-stage growth companies asking for help with financial strategy, particularly the annual plan. It is a pattern we have seen time and time again. It is like purchasing a gym membership as a New Year’s resolution to get in shape; in this case, founders make their New Year’s resolution to get into “financial shape.”

How best to do that? To find out, let’s explore the three Ps of a strong financial planning process: Purpose, Participation, and Process. Get access to the full insights article.

Unlocking a $275,000 Tax Credit

AVL Growth Partners recently achieved a significant client win when one of our CFOs identified an overlooked opportunity for R&D Tax Credits. After learning that our client had not been informed of this option by their CPA, our CFO reached out directly to the CPA firm, who initially believed the client was ineligible. Rather than stopping there, our CFO proactively engaged an R&D Tax Credit firm to assess eligibility and execute the necessary calculations.

The result?

A $275,000 tax credit for our client, to be applied against their 2025 payroll taxes.

In the words of our CEO Chris Schwalbach, “We are proud of this win because it demonstrates how we partner with our clients. We are looking around corners. We are taking responsibility for the whole picture of the business. That’s a differentiator that’s worth us shouting out loud about.”

Get access to more client success stories like this one.

Good to Know

As mandated by the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), all FinCEN filings are due by January 1, 2025. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury developed to minimize financial crimes. Specific information about the owners of certain entities must be reported to FinCEN by the deadline. Non-compliance penalties are steep, starting with fines up to $591 per day. If you are a business owner, please ask AVL, your attorney, or your CPA to file for you before the end of the year. Get more details.

Blind Institute of Technology (BIT) founder and CEO Mike Hess, legally blind himself, saw a gap between the skills of professionals with disabilities and the way they were received in corporate America. This inspired him to become an avid evangelist for the blind and disabled community. 

For years, Mike’s time was dedicated to running day-to-day operations, selling to customers, managing finances, and balancing the demands of growing the organization. This detracted from Mike’s time and energy advocating for the organization’s mission to grow and scale.

With AVL, Mike and his team:

• Restructured how the Operations team understood the business finances.
• Bolstered BIT’s accounting and reporting systems.
• Introduced spend management strategies.
• Ensured compliance with non-profit finance regulations.

“I have the strongest financial team now,” says Mike. “With AVL at the helm, 85% of this year’s audit was completed without input from my team or me. They saved countless hours of my time and my team’s time. Everything is in order, which is exactly what an auditor wants.”

He continues, “We just applied and received an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which required the submission of a very detailed technical budget. Working with AVL has significantly improved our business finance capabilities, giving us the confidence to meet the thorough requirements of the application process.” Get access to the full story.  

Welcome, Alison Meadows, AVL’s HR Practice Lead

Alison is a seasoned human resources leader with over 15 years of experience in driving people strategy and organizational growth across diverse industries. She brings expertise in leadership development, employee experience, and strategic HR initiatives. Her accomplishments include leading HR at Ibotta and Evolve. Her passion lies in creating impactful, people-centric cultures that drive organizational success. Connect with Alison.

AVL Outsider Day Recap, by CEO Chris Schwalbach

Our recent AVL Outsider Day was an adventure of authenticity, spirit, and commitment. I am in awe of our team and proud to know every single one of them.

It was also a dream come true to have my dear friends at Business Outside lead this experience. For me, it felt like I was connecting my two best friends for the first time. It was outstanding!

Because our team works remotely almost 100% of the time, our time together is like liquid gold – so precious. And we used it well!

We journeyed on a Connection Hike to connect more deeply with one another and focused on true trust building, not just “team bonding.” We shared our personal values statements and explored guides to support healthy conflict conversations. So much was accomplished.

Thank you to everyone on the AVL Growth Partners team for your engagement, and enthusiasm. Thank you all for getting outside of your comfort zone. Finally, thank you for your support and commitment to making AVL a very special place to do great work!