Profitual helps startups build investor-ready budgets, forecasts, and financial statements without requiring an accounting degree.
As a certified professional accountant, Ray Fitzpatrick spent years at large corporations such as Irving Oil and McCain Foods, conducting analyzes that tested the assumptions made in multimillion-dollar decisions. In those conditions, numbers were a compass guiding every movement.
But when Fitzpatrick moved into the startup world, he discovered that a compass was missing.
“There are a million reasons why you won't get financed. We make sure your finances aren't one of them.”
Ray Fitzpatrick, Profitual
“It doesn’t seem like accounting expertise has permeated small businesses, or at least the startups I’ve invested in,” he said.
This trend continued throughout his time as an investor at the New Brunswick Innovation Fund, where he supported dozens of young founders across the region. He met founders who knew their product inside and out, but couldn't figure out their own numbers.
“I’ve never invested in an entrepreneur with a financial background,” he said. “They were all engineers, computer scientists, life scientists, basically all walks of life where they were experts in their fields, but they weren’t in finance.”
The gap he noticed became his idea Profitablea tool that will bring structured financial information to the people who need it most. Profitual helps startup founders easily create forecasts, budgets, and financial reports without the need for accounting experience.
“We want to be like Canva in finance,” Fitzpatrick said. “We wanted to make this for non-financial users and make it easy for them to navigate the platform, better understand their business, and get it at a price they can actually afford.”
The software is divided into two parts: forecasting and reporting. When it comes to forecasting, users can create detailed budgets and models in just 15 minutes, without endless spreadsheets.
Using Profitual's building blocks feature, startups can enter information in a language they understand, which automatically creates an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow for them.
In his experience, Fitzpatrick says many founders “thought they had more money than they actually had” but realized too late that they couldn't make payroll.
Profitual helps companies avoid financial misunderstandings that can sink a promising company. Founders can also easily add a funding round in minutes by simply entering the amount, structure and closing date, and Profitual does the rest.
“We don't want data science PhDs worrying about, 'Does this apply to my balance sheet?' Does this apply to my cash flow?’” he said.
Profitual's reporting engine removes accounting jargon in favor of plain English.
The platform automatically evaluates performance and generates summary data that everyone can understand. “We're trying really hard not to let it take on an accountant tone,” he said. “The metrics we put together and the way we analyze the reports are based on a very common understanding, so everyone can understand the results.”
When Fitzpatrick launched Profitual three years ago, he expected startups to move on from their first hire in finance. In fact, the opposite happened.
He said startup finance executives have embraced the product as a “little financial buddy,” using it to monitor runway, burn and key metrics. The product helps people with accounting experience understand the realities of startups and helps startup founders clearly understand the details of their financing. “Because the cost isn't too high, we've been able to last a lot longer,” Fitzpatrick said.
Profitual currently serves about 200 users, all from Canada, with some generating annual revenues of up to $4 million.
Profitual's philosophy dates back to Fitzpatrick's time sitting on both sides of the table as a former accountant and investor, observing what happens when startups don't get it. “The big accounting firms don't provide much help to start-up companies,” he said. “And a startup isn’t a big enough book of business for them to care.”
Profitual has helped startups like MedReddie, which used the platform to build forecasts, track budgets, and report to investors. With Profitual's support, the company exceeded its first round of funding and began producing quality reports for investors.
“There are a million reasons why you won’t get funding,” Fitzpatrick said. “We make sure your finances are not one of them.”
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All photos courtesy of Profitual.
