Outsourced Accounting for an Israeli Startup: From 5 Months of Missing Expenses to a 10-Day Close

Ayelet Krom
Apr 20
5 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Raftel took over accounting services for an Israeli company with fewer than 50 employees, operating in both Israel and the US. The previous accounting firm had been charging $2,250 per month but had not recorded any expenses for five consecutive months. Month-end close was running 30+ days behind, and leadership had no reliable financial reporting to make decisions with. Within 90 days, Raftel rebuilt the accounting function, introduced a disciplined monthly close process (books closed by business day 10), reduced DSO from 45 days to under 20, and accelerated over $100,000 in receivables. The company went from flying blind to having a finance function that leadership could actually use.

The Situation: Paying $2,250/Month for an Accountant Who Stopped Recording Expenses

The company was an Israel-based business with US operations. They had an accounting firm in place. They were paying monthly fees. Reports existed somewhere.

But leadership had a growing sense that finance was happening around them, not with them.

The numbers they received reflected the past, not the business they were running today. Decisions were being made based on dashboards, operational data, and instinct, while the actual financial reality sat unresolved in the background.

Then the real picture emerged.

When the company requested a year-end report, they learned something that should never happen: their accountant had not recorded a single expense since August. Five months of operating costs, completely missing from the books. Not because the company had stopped spending, but because no one had sent the documents, and the accounting firm never flagged it.

The company had been paying $2,250 per month the entire time. For five of those months, they received essentially nothing in return.

No one followed up. No one raised a flag. No one felt responsible for managing the process.

Why the Problem Was Bigger Than Bad Bookkeeping

This was not a one-time oversight. It was a structural problem with how accounting was being managed.

Month-end close was 30+ days behind. In some months, the books were closed a full month after period end. In others, they were not closed at all. The firm would wait until quarter-end or year-end to make sweeping adjustments, meaning leadership never had a current picture of where the business stood.

Financial reporting was unusable for decision-making. Because the books were perpetually behind, leadership relied on analytics teams and operational metrics to understand the business. Those numbers did not necessarily match what was actually happening in the bank account.

Cash flow had no infrastructure. Invoicing and collections were not managed proactively. DSO sat at 45 days, meaning over $100,000 in receivables were outstanding at any given time that could have been collected weeks earlier.

The accounting relationship was transactional. The previous firm charged extra for every question and every report. Leadership avoided engaging with finance to control costs, which meant problems went unaddressed longer.

The company was not just dealing with late books. They were operating without a functioning finance layer.

What Raftel Changed in 90 Days

Rebuilt the Chart of Accounts and Set Accounting Policies

The first step was structural. We cleaned up the chart of accounts so it reflected how the company actually operated, not how a generic template had been applied. We set clear accounting policies across both the Israeli and US entities so reporting was consistent and aligned.

Introduced a 10-Business-Day Monthly Close

We implemented a disciplined monthly close process with a hard target: books closed by business day 10 after month-end.

That deadline changed everything downstream. Because we needed to close by day 10, we could not wait passively for information. We requested invoices early. We flagged missing data immediately. We helped the client build systems around invoicing, collections, and bill processing that made delays visible instead of hidden.

Month-end close went from 30+ days (or not happening at all) to consistently within 10 business days.

Cut DSO from 45 Days to Under 20

With proper invoicing cadence and active collections management, DSO dropped from 45 days to under 20. That brought over $100,000 in receivables in earlier, improving cash flow without changing revenue or cutting costs.

This is one of the fastest ways to improve a startup's cash position, and it requires zero additional revenue. It just requires someone paying attention.

Removed the Cost Barrier to Financial Engagement

Unlike the previous firm, we did not charge extra for every question or report. That single change allowed leadership to engage freely with the finance team. Questions got asked sooner. Problems got surfaced faster. Finance became a conversation instead of an invoice.

Results: A Finance Function Leadership Could Actually Use

Month-end close: from 30+ days to under 10 business days. Every month. Consistently.

DSO: from 45 days to under 20. Over $100,000 in receivables collected weeks earlier than before.

5 months of missing expenses: resolved. Books cleaned up, backdated accurately, and maintained going forward without gaps.

Leadership visibility: restored. Clear monthly summaries replaced guesswork. Strategic finance conversations became possible because the numbers were current.

Scalable foundation in place. When the company later needed budgeting, financial modeling, or FP&A support, there was no cleanup required. The accounting infrastructure was already built to support it.

The previous firm charged $2,250 a month and let five months of expenses go unrecorded without a word. Raftel rebuilt the entire accounting function in 90 days and gave leadership a finance operation they could trust, in both Israel and the US.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a monthly close process look like for a startup? A well-run monthly close for a startup should be completed within 10 business days after month-end. This includes reconciling all accounts, recording accruals and adjustments, reviewing the P&L and balance sheet for accuracy, and delivering a financial summary to leadership. The goal is to give founders and executives current, reliable numbers they can use for decision-making, not a compliance exercise that runs weeks behind.

How long should it take to close the books each month? For most startups and growth-stage companies, 10 business days is the standard target. If your books are consistently taking 30+ days to close, or if closes are being deferred to quarter-end, that is a sign of structural issues in your accounting process, not just slow execution.

What is a good DSO for a startup? DSO (days sales outstanding) varies by industry, but for most B2B startups, anything under 30 days is solid and under 20 is excellent. High DSO means cash is sitting in receivables instead of in your bank account. Reducing DSO is one of the fastest ways to improve cash flow without increasing revenue.

What is the difference between outsourced accounting and a fractional CFO? Outsourced accounting covers the day-to-day financial operations: bookkeeping, monthly close, reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, and financial reporting. A fractional CFO operates at the strategic level: financial modeling, fundraising support, board reporting, and long-term planning. Many growing companies need both, and having clean accounting in place is a prerequisite for effective CFO-level work.

Your books close on time every month, or they do not. If you are not sure where you stand, send us your last three monthly reports and we will tell you what is working and what is not. No sales call required.