Cornerstone, an accounting and analytics company, advises startups in Hong Kong to keep their records straight.
They’re the the Hong Kong gold partners and advisors for ‘Xero‘ cloud-based accounting software that startups can access via mobile and on the web. Adrian Lai, managing director of Cornerstone said many startup founders in Hong Kong have a lot of passion but they are disorganized when it comes to administrative work. “They want to go pitch for Series A, they fundraise or to get some sort of external investment, and then it’s a mad rush to try to get some numbers together,” he said.
Lai thinks startups and SMEs need to be disciplined from the beginning: To get their administration and accounting sorted out. He sees too many clients waiting until the last minute to pull numbers together. “Not only are the financials important to external investor,” he said, “but savvy investors also want to find out about whether or not controlled processes of the organization within a startup actually is solid.”
