At first glance, the work of an engineer and a finance manager may seem quite different, but they have a lot in common in the way they think. In both fields, clarity, facts and well-founded decisions are important. Claims need to be backed up, and numbers set fairly clear limits on interpretation.
Revismo CFO and co-founder Kert Klementi spoke to Finantsuudised about the financial management of an engineering company, planning in a project-based business, and why the mindset of engineers and finance professionals works so well together.
Clarity connects finance and engineering
According to Kert, working with engineers is a good fit because both fields value clarity and fact-based thinking. Claims need to be supported by reasoning, and numbers cannot be interpreted endlessly to suit a preferred outcome.
“Excel does not lie. If a number is in the red, then it is in the red – you cannot simply ignore it,” Kert said in the interview.
A company may have plenty of good ideas and optimism, but decisions ultimately need to be based on what the numbers show. Tools can make analysis faster and more accurate, but the final decision still must be made by a person.
In a project-based business, the next order is hard to predict
At Revismo, financial management includes monitoring cash flow and engineers’ workload. Costs are generally easier to forecast than revenue, because it is not always possible to predict when the next major project will arrive or how large it will be.
“At any moment, a client may send an email asking to buy a few hundred hours of work. Projects like that are very difficult to plan for in advance,” Kert explained.
This means that in a project-based engineering company, financial planning must be able to respond to rapid changes in workload. At the same time, the real cost of engineering work must also be taken into account, including licences for professional engineering software, which make up a significant share of the company’s expenses.
Compliance is becoming increasingly important for clients
In the interview, Kert also discussed how clients’ attitudes towards product documentation and compliance have changed over the years.
In Revismo’s early years, clients did not always pay enough attention to these matters. Today, especially in export markets, companies are often asked at an early stage whether the necessary documentation is in place and whether the product complies with the relevant requirements.
Kert also spoke about Revismo’s move towards more comprehensive solutions, supporting clients throughout the product development process- from the initial idea and concept to the prototype and the documentation needed to bring the product to market.
The full profile interview with Revismo CFO Kert Klementi is available on the Finantsuudised website.