CFO Tech Outlook: Specials Magazine

Developing an effective debt compliance process is a challenging task for even large and sophisticated finance teams. Debt agreements are long and complex. It is inordinately time-consuming to identify the multitude of covenants and convert their dense legalese into understandable questions. Companies have multiple debt agreements, each containing 120-200+ covenant requirements. These include reporting adverse events, third-party claims, liens, asset sales, and collateral. Identifying and summarizing their pre-conditions, exceptions, and post-conditions is mind-numbing. “If the covenant listing is done in Excel, the process quickly descends into Excel Hell,” says Jeff Wallace, DCS Managing Director. Covenants affect not only Treasury, but also Legal, Tax, Insurance, HR, Controller’s, and the business units. Few teams have access to web tools that allow questionnaire reviews by a broad range of respondents outside of Treasury. The result is often an inadequate process risks default with missing or misinterpreted covenants. Defaults can incur waiver fees, penalty interest, restatements, SOX citations, going concern doubt – and much worse. Any nonfinancial default is easily preventable and owned by the finance team. Recognizing companies’ growing need for specialized expertise in developing a comprehensive compliance process, Debt Compliance Services (DCS) steps forward as the leading cloud service provider. DCS assists companies in meeting their covenant obligations, ensuring SOX compliance, and proactively identifying potential covenant issues for senior management and lenders. By automating and documenting the compliance, DCS’s cloud solutions provide the supporting evidence for the quarterly Officer’s Certificate to the lenders by the CFO attesting that the company complies with all covenants. The DCS Debt Manager^SM, the company’s flagship service, begins the onboarding process by deconstructing the debt agreements into an integrated cloud platform as web pages, covenant questions, permitted baskets, and calendar items.

Growing up in Kazakhstan, where dreaming beyond survival was a luxury, Anelya Grant seized an opportunity to spend a summer in the U.S., which ignited her determination to make it her home. Despite facing obstacles like limited English skills and starting a career from scratch, she pursued a finance degree, recognizing its universal power. This decision laid the foundation for her success, building an accounting practice focused on venture-backed startups in Silicon Valley. Throughout her career, Anelya noticed a common problem—companies struggled with accounts receivable workflow, which was cumbersome, error-prone, and time-consuming for the growing company. Financial projections and reporting were hindered by the often ineffective communication between Sales and Finance. This challenge fueled her desire to find a solution. Meanwhile, Daniel Kivatinos faced a similar issue in his healthcare tech business. Despite a team of accountants, he often felt overwhelmed by complex financial reports, always searching for quick insights into his company's health. He, too, wanted a better solution. Grant’s and Kivatinos' shared experiences led them to team up with Vinay Datta Pinnaka, an expert in machine learning with a focus on building billing solutions. Pinnaka’s technical expertise was the missing piece, and together, the trio set out to create a platform that would simplify financial management, using their own struggles as a guide. Today, their business, JustPaid.ai, is a leading AI revenue management platform providing financial payment solutions, dedicated to innovating how businesses transact in the digital age. With a focus on ease of use, security, and speed, its platform supports businesses across various industries in optimizing their financial operations.