Client:

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. He started his organization by initially training blind people to be technology professionals and then launching them into secure, meaningful careers. Today, BIT has exponentially expanded to become a global nonprofit staffing agency whose mission is to help all professionals with disabilities, and the employers who hire them, find success in the workplace.

Issues:

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. 

Mike says, “To ensure we stayed audit-ready, we knew it was essential to get our financial systems fully in order. I worked closely with my fractional CFOs at AVL, sharing, ‘I know my business and that we’re financially stable, but I want deeper insight into our cost structure and financial details to make more strategic decisions.’ AVL helped us gain that clarity and control.”

How We Helped:

• Worked closely with BIT to restructure how the Operations team understood the business finances. The first step was through the budgeting process. 
• Restructured BIT’s accounting and reporting systems to facilitate timely, accurate, and actionable forecasts, budgets, and reports.  
• Introduced spend management strategies to help monitor and manage business expenses more effectively during growth.
• Ensured BIT was in compliance with non-profit finance regulations.

“From day one,” shares Mike, “AVL treated me like an entrepreneur, respecting both what I know and what I don’t. They made sure we were taking the right steps, like securing solid payment terms and better managing cash flow – key for our continued success.” 

He continues, “AVL’s experience allows me to focus on revenue-generating ideas while they handle the financial implications, ultimately helping me make more informed decisions.” 

Results:

With AVL’s support, the BIT team was able to streamline financial operations, enabling more effective day-to-day management. AVL helped BIT organize its finances clearly, track margins for each of its services, and run profit-and-loss (P&L) analyses to identify areas for growth. They also educated BIT on key financial compliance issues, regulations, and best practices, giving them the confidence to expand. By properly allocating expenses and revenue across all BIT services, they were able to confirm that each service was not only profitable but also operating with clear margin percentages. This clarity has empowered BIT to make data-driven decisions for sustainable growth.

• BIT forged a strong partnership with the nation’s #1 AI-enabled CRM provider, which helped pave the way for additional grant opportunities.
• With the support of our financial partnership, BIT secured an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. AVL helped BIT shift from macro-level financial reporting to a more detailed, micro-level perspective, enabling them to present their financials with remarkable accuracy. 

Additionally, Mike was selected as a keynote speaker at Salesforce’s annual conference in San Francisco, Dreamforce, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Business and Disability Network in Geneva, and Randstad Enterprise’s re:imagine Talent Summit in NYC.

“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.”

He concludes, “The AVL team keeps me focused on a runway with cash to allow me to keep fulfilling my mission. And I can lay my head on the pillow at night knowing it’s all in order.”

Soar to become a powerhouse.

AVL Growth Partners is a fractional finance, accounting and human resources services company supporting early-stage growth companies in pivoting to the next level of growth. We serve clients across the U.S. with offices in Denver, Austin and Atlanta. For details, visit avlgrowth.com or connect with us at hello@avlgrowth.com.