Function

Most companies don’t run into problems because of bad decisions. They run into problems because the systems can’t support the pace they’re growing at. Finance is usually one of the first places that shows up. Spreadsheets get harder to manage. Numbers take longer to pull. Decisions slow down. What worked when the business was smaller stops working quietly. Until it doesn’t. At Function, a big part of what we do is help founders build financial systems that actually scale with them. Because better systems don’t just make things cleaner. They make better decisions possible.

It’s National Accounting Day. Not the flashiest part of building a company—but one of the most important. Good accounting is not just about staying compliant. It’s about: → understanding your numbers → making better decisions → building something that actually scales. The best companies don’t treat finance as a back-office function. They treat it as a core part of how the business runs. That’s where the difference shows up.

Happy One Year of Function! This milestone is about more than marking a year in business. It is about celebrating the clients, founders, and teams who have trusted us to be part of their journey. Over the past year, we have had the privilege of working with incredible companies across different stages, industries, and challenges. From building stronger financial systems to supporting fundraising, growth, reporting, and day-to-day financial clarity, our mission has remained the same: to help founders understand their numbers and make better decisions with confidence. Function was built on the belief that finance should not feel confusing, reactive, or out of reach. Every company deserves financial support that is thoughtful, strategic, and built for the realities of growing a business. To our clients: thank you for trusting us, challenging us, and allowing us to grow alongside you. Your work inspires ours, and we are grateful to be part of the teams building what comes next. Here’s to one year of Function, and to many more years of helping companies turn financial clarity into better decisions, stronger growth, and lasting impact.

Most founders think they know their runway. The number is often wrong. Because it’s usually calculated like this: Cash ÷ monthly burn = runway The issue is that “monthly burn” is typically based on the last few months. And that assumes nothing is about to change. It almost always does. → you’re hiring → you’re adding new tools → infrastructure costs are increasing So your burn goes up—but your runway calculation doesn’t account for it. Investors don’t look backward when they think about runway. They model what’s coming next. That’s why your 18 months might actually be 11.

Function Friday: Getting Ahead in Q2

It’s National Small Business Week! And if you’re building something right now, you already know: There’s nothing “small” about it. Behind every company is a founder making decisions with incomplete information, managing cash, hiring carefully, and figuring things out in real time. That’s the part people don’t always see. Because the story is never just about the numbers.

Function Friday: Post-Tax Momentum

Tax season is over. Most founders treat that as the finish line. It’s not. It’s a checkpoint. If anything felt harder than it should have— pulling numbers together, understanding what you owed, or explaining your financials— that’s not a one-off issue. It’s a system problem. The best founders don’t wait until next April to fix it. Visit onefunction.com to learn how we help fix it.

A customer pays you upfront. The cash hits your account. That does not mean it is all revenue yet. This week’s Financial Literacy Month video is about deferred revenue and why so many founders get tripped up by it. Cash in the bank and revenue on the books are not the same thing. And if you treat them like they are, it can lead to messy reporting, cash flow issues, and uncomfortable conversations in diligence. In this week’s video, Josh Yelen, CPA, MBA explains why that distinction matters and what founders need to understand before it becomes a bigger problem. Watch the full video and tell us what you want to see next!

This week’s Financial Literacy Month topic: gross margin vs. contribution margin. Gross margin might tell you your product looks healthy. Contribution margin tells you whether the business actually scales well. That is the difference founders need to understand. Because once you include the costs tied directly to acquiring and supporting customers, the picture can change fast. A company that looks efficient on gross margin alone may be operating with much less room than expected. And when that happens, growth can put more strain on the business, not less. In this week’s video, Josh Yelen, CPA, MBA explains why contribution margin is one of the most important numbers founders should understand before scaling. Watch the full video and let us know what you want to see next.