Our Approach

Insights for every stage of business
Every business goes through recognizable growth stages, each with its own set of needs. Our vast experience with hundreds of businesses gives us practical insights you can use at every stage, whether you’re a start-up looking for seed capital or an expanding company looking to enter new markets.

Below are the five broad stages of a lifecycle of business where Armanino is able to assist:

• Start-up - You’ve secured funding. You’ve formed the key elements of infrastructure and baseline compliance. You’re developing a product or service and hopefully serving your first customers.

Our role: While in the start-up phase, you often don’t need or can’t yet afford a full-time finance department. We can provide all the finance functions on an outsourced basis so you can stay focused on your business. And when the time is right we will seamlessly transfer responsibilities to your in-house team. Armanino can help with the proper entity choice, and provide proactive tax planning to optimize your tax advantages. We can also set up financial applications and perform valuation compliance.

• Rapid Growth - You’ve found your formula. Customers are coming in, bringing revenues with them, even as funding continues. But the landscape is getting more complex, with bigger challenges still in front of you. New skills and expertise are required. There are opportunities to seize, big issues to address, and competition coming up behind you.

Our role: As growth accelerates, your needs expand. Armanino can be a trusted advisor—whether we’re performing the CFO function or working in concert with your own CFO—providing services that become increasingly vital, the faster you grow. As the tax laws change, we can provide the expertise to help you adjust your tax strategy for maximum advantage.

• Established – You’ve hit your stride. You’re profitable, you’re established, and your focused on what you do best. It’s time to refine efficiencies, invest in infrastructure, and encourage innovation. But there are still tough choices to make as you consider whether to continue on your current path, expand and return to high growth mode or consider an exit strategy.

Our role: As you continue down your path, investments need to be made in the business while keeping a close eye on your competition. Armanino can assist with process improvements for better efficiencies and technology enhancements for smoother integration and better performance. The environment still demands a more strategic tax plan and a more sophisticated team to help with multi-state and global audits.

• Expansion - You’re growing but also pushing the business in new directions. You seek mergers and acquisitions, create new partnerships, and enter new markets—including cross-border markets. You’re launching new products or services and opening new offices.

Our role: When dealing with the myriad of complexities of expanding a mature company, going it alone seldom makes sense. There are simply too many aspects that involve expertise you are not likely to have in-house. That’s where Armanino can really help, particularly with M&A matters, technical outsourcing and the challenges of global expansion

• Exit - You’re ready to move on. It’s time to plan your exit strategy—whether it’s by succession, sale, merger or liquidation.

Our role: As with every other stage in the business life cycle, Armanino can provide the audit, as well as the tax and consulting services you need for a successful exit. We have a wide range of experience in virtually every form of exit strategy, and we can help you preserve, distribute, liquidate or otherwise dispose of the company’s assets in an orderly—and ultimately satisfying—manner.