“We were previously a week-to-week business. Now we operate on a month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter basis, which is really nice breathing room.” — James Michalak, CEO, NeoReach
The Challenge: When “Creative Accounting” Nearly Derailed a $50M Raise
James Michalak joined NeoReach as CEO with a clear mission: to prepare the creator economy SaaS and service company for serious growth. What he found instead was a financial disaster that threatened everything.
“Our books were, for all intents and purposes, an absolute disaster,” Michalak recalls. “It was very difficult for us to forecast revenue. It was very difficult for us to understand our cash position at any given point in time.”
The problems ran deeper than messy bookkeeping. Their previous accounting firm was operating under the dangerous assumption that “it’s just a startup” — an excuse that crumbles when you’re pursuing a $50 million capital raise and exploring SPAC transactions.
The Creator Economy’s Unique Accounting Nightmare
NeoReach operates three distinct business lines that power the creator economy:
- Tech-enabled services matching Fortune 100 brands with content creators across social platforms
- Talent management representing creators like traditional agencies represent celebrities
- Data and API offerings providing insights from social platform relationships
Each line of business has different revenue recognition models, and the company constantly navigates the complex “agent versus principal” classification — a nuance their previous firm completely missed.
“We invoice 50% upon signature, hold money to allocate to creators on multiple payment schedules, then collect the remaining 50% upon campaign completion,” Mahalick explains. “Our previous accounting firm was treating that as a single transaction and just dumping revenue into our books at campaign completion.”
The result? Lumpy P&L statements that made forecasting impossible and cash flow management a nightmare.
The Search: Finding a Partner, Not Just a Vendor
Faced with an impending capital raise and the need for PCAOB-compliant financials, Michalak knew he couldn’t fix the mess internally. “That took up a considerable amount of time. I was spending probably 20 hours a week working in the business and not working on the business.”
The opportunity cost was crushing. As CEO, Mahalick views his role as serving his team, not the other way around. But instead of supporting strategic growth, he was chasing client collections and managing invoicing disasters.
A Google search led him to indinero — a decision he now calls “probably one of the best decisions we’ve made as an organization.”
The Transformation: Numbers That Tell the Real Story
The results speak for themselves:
- Month-end close time: Reduced from 45 days to under 14 days
- Collection efficiency: 25% faster invoicing-to-payment cycle
- CEO time savings: 15-20 hours per week freed up for strategic work
- Financial accuracy: Full GAAP compliance achieved
- Cash flow visibility: Moved from week-to-week survival to quarterly planning
But the most impressive transformation wasn’t just operational — it was strategic.
The $50M Test: When Your Accounting Team Faces Wall Street
The ultimate test came when NeoReach pursued a significant capital raise with investment banking firm Moelis and Company, potentially leading to a SPAC transaction with Cantor Fitzgerald.
“Adam and Jessica got on the phone with Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, and went to bat for us, talking about all the changes they’d made, the deferred revenue schedule in detail, all the controls and policies they helped us write,” Michalak says. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to do that alone.”
Having indinero’s team directly interface with Wall Street executives during due diligence? That’s not accounting support — that’s strategic partnership.
Death to “Happy Talk”: How Accurate Financials Drive Better Decisions
Michalak has adopted what he calls a “death to happy talk mentality” — using real financial data to counter optimistic assumptions that could damage the business.
A recent acquisition of the influencers.com domain illustrates this perfectly. Initial plans called for a $400-500K investment to build out next-generation creator services. But accurate P&L visibility from indinero’s reporting led to a more judicious approach.
“Seeing our cash position going into Q4 has really made me think, hey, let’s dial back some of this stuff, be a little more realistic,” Michalak explains. “Without the accurate reporting and financials from the indinero team, we may have gone in a direction that would’ve been detrimental to the business.”
The Partnership Factor: When Vendors Become Team Members
What sets indinero apart isn’t just technical competence — it’s a genuine understanding of NeoReach’s mission to empower creators.
“Every time they’re sending an invoice, every time they’re asking a question about a payment, I can see that they always have the creator in mind,” Michalak notes. “To see that from an accounting team that is a third-party vendor, that’s absolutely incredible.”
This shows up in unexpected ways. When working with Chinese multinational Temu, which pays in large, unallocated chunks, indinero’s Julia literally goes onto TikTok and Instagram to match payments with specific creators and content.
“That’s impossible to find anywhere else. I honestly have trouble with our own campaign operations team doing that, let alone Julia from indinero doing it.”
Looking Forward: Building for an IPO
NeoReach is positioning itself for an IPO in the future. While they’ll eventually need an in-house CFO, Michalak sees indinero remaining central to their financial operations.
“That doesn’t change the trajectory of the relationship with indinero in my mind in really any way other than we just need to have somebody in-house. But we’ll still lean on the team for everything else.”
The company now manages $15 million in annual deal flow across 122 million indexed creators, producing tens of thousands of content pieces yearly. Instead of drowning in financial chaos, Michalak can focus on what’s next.
“Allowing indinero to really allow me to be more focused on what’s next for the organization rather than chasing the dollars is setting us up for some really exciting stuff.”
The Bottom Line: Partnership Over Transactions
For SaaS companies juggling multiple revenue streams and complex business models, you’re not just choosing an accounting service — you’re deciding whether your financial team will work alongside you or just work for you.
“There really is no comparison,” Michalak concludes. “Our team at indinero is light years ahead of our previous firm in terms of knowledge, professionalism, and loyalty to our mission to empower creators.”
When your accounting team is willing to get on calls with Wall Street executives and dig through TikTok to verify creator payments, you’ve found more than a service provider. You’ve found a partner invested in your success.
Ready to transform your financial operations from survival mode to strategic advantage? Contact indinero to discuss how we can support your unique business needs.
