SaaS management can be a complex task for CFOs to tackle. Everything from limited transparency across departments to opaque pricing practices makes it challenging. There are a lot of moving pieces involved in SaaS management, which is why we decided to do a deep dive into how CFOs work around this process. After speaking to 90+ CFOs across Australia, we outlined some of the top challenges that CFOs face when managing SaaS. Here are three CFO insights that we learned.
The first CFO insight we found was that 42% of CFOs have no formal SaaS purchasing process. Left unmanaged, SaaS tools can become harder to oversee and costs spiral out of control. One company we spoke with used two CRMs and three project management tools across the company. If they simply centralized the SaaS purchasing process, they would have avoided this error and saved thousands in the process. SaaS management for startups can be simplified by having a structured SaaS purchasing process.
The second CFO insight we found was that 50% of startups had the freedom to try new products for productivity and collaboration without business approval. While SaaS adoption has become easier, the downside is that employees are more likely to buy SaaS tools on their personal cards. This becomes a nightmare for CFOs in charge of SaaS management as they try to untangle this from a risk and financial perspective.
Consider building a thorough approval process to make SaaS management more seamless. This will help CFOs invest in the right tools while eliminating unnecessary spend. If you need help, Hudled have deals with over 250+ SaaS vendors. We’ll help optimize costs and tackle SaaS management for startups.
The CFO has arguably one of the most challenging jobs when it comes to SaaS management. They are required to manage SaaS tools they don’t use, can’t see and more often than not, don’t have visibility over. It’s comparable to being asked to make CFO leadership decisions with only 20% of the information. Teams will naturally protect the SaaS tools they use “just in case” and ultimately it’s very difficult for any CFO to challenge this without usage. SaaS usage is also difficult to capture, especially when the average startup with 11-50 employees uses 61 SaaS tools.
To tackle this, run periodic surveys with your employees to ask them about the tools they use and the value they receive. Ask them to rate, on a scale of 1-10, how important the tool is to their role and how much they like the tool. Aggregate the feedback to decide which tools you can consolidate or eliminate from your SaaS stack.
In the scheme of things, SaaS management is still a relatively new concept and we’re all still working out the best way to manage this. At Hudled, we’re thinking deeply about SaaS management for startups. We want to empower CFOs to manage the full lifecycle of their SaaS stack, which includes tackling the three CFO insights we uncovered. If you’re curious to see how Hudled could help save you up to $33.1k on average, sign up for our SaaS audit. We discover exactly where you're overpaying and how you can save in less than 14 days.