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YouGov CFO: We get one version of the truth

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26th May 2016
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Alan Newman, chief financial officer at YouGov, explains how the business can track projects and monitor resources, giving one version of the truth.

AccountingWEB caught up with Newman at SuiteWorld in San Jose to find out how the market research agency has pioneered polling on the internet.

According to the former EY partner and chartered accountant, YouGov has a mix of services that use its online panels of survey takers for specific research and more generic products.

Its revenue sources include a subscription-based intelligence product called BrandIndex, a research service, and a range of project-based custom research services.

When it comes to revenue recognition and tracking sales pipeline and financial performance across the three sources, NetSuite “gives a single version of the truth,” Newman said. “I can track projects and monitor how resources and time are being used across the business.”

He added another advantage of using cloud-based software is that the company can now get a new country subsidiary up and running in just weeks.

Since switching from Sage to NetSuite back in 2007, OneWorld has enabled the business to grow internationally, given the ability to deal with global customers, while controlling back-office costs.

The cloud-based system has allowed easy roll-out across new regions and helped support the company’s global activities with issues like tax, reporting and IFRS requirements. To implement across new subsidiaries it’s a case of “just switching it on,” Newman explained.

When it comes to forecasting and informing the market about expectations, Newman said the starting point is always good data. As the business has grown, effective forecasting has become more important to the CFO.

The customer research products typically have three-month visibility, but with the subscription model this has been extended to 12-months.

YouGov uses Adaptive Insights which draws information from NetSuite, allowing the business to move off spreadsheets to a database system.

With the continued development of OneWorld and the growth of the business Newman’s role as CFO has also changed seeing him more involved in strategy and the direction of the business.

“The CEO had a clear sense of direction, but it’s about getting the right balance. Strategy has to be a combined business decision. Part of my role is investor relations and how to communicate with shareholders.”

He added that the CFO is increasingly taking on the role of the CIO – “there’s more data with the cloud and it needs analysing”.

For Newman the biggest benefit of switching to a cloud solution comes back to the integrated system, giving a single version of the truth:

“Cloud is obvious now. With ease of implementation, why wouldn’t you?”

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