Corefino CEO Karen Watts was at the Financial Executives International conference in New York to talk about her companys back office outsourcing approach.
Her Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company aims to do what ADP did for payroll by providing the back-office accounting for midmarket businesses. Watts is a former CFO herself and she founded the company in 2004. Corefino attracted $13.6 million in venture funding and is building its expertise in areas such as revenue recognition and FAS 123.
Watts sees the company as going beyond the roles of business process outsourcing and accounting system implementation. Her company runs the accounting software for clients in its own offices, takes care of maintenance and does the accounting for them.
The company also partners with various Web-based software providers such as FinancialForce.com. Corefino is still ramping up and so far has under 100 customers, but Watts sees new validation for her business model from industry analyst firms such as IDC, which has identified growth in her segment.
However, that same growth is also attracting new competition from other companies that have adopted similar business models. Expect to see more of this as cloud computing, Software as a Service, and similar trends continue in the accounting field.
