Financial Operations
Outsourced Controller for SaaS Companies: The Close, the Books, and Investor-Ready Reporting
SaaS metrics are only as good as the books beneath them. A board deck can show ARR and net revenue…
Karl Pawlik
CFO & Head of Technology & Life Sciences
Karl Pawlik leads our Technology and Life Sciences practice at Escalon Services. Karl has over 20 years of experience working in various leadership roles in finance, accounting, and strategy, with the last 10+ years being dedicated to the role of CFO of venture and pre-venture funded start-ups. Earlier in his career, Karl held global finance, business development, and strategy roles with Fortune 500 companies including Applied Materials, and St. Jude Medical (now Abbott), where he was part of the team that acquired CardioMeMs and NanoStim.
Karl Pawlik leads our Technology and Life Sciences practice at Escalon Services. Karl has over 20 years of experience working in various leadership roles in finance, accounting, and strategy, with the last 10+ years being dedicated to the role of CFO of venture and pre-venture funded start-ups. Earlier in his career, Karl held global finance, business development, and strategy roles with Fortune 500 companies including Applied Materials, and St. Jude Medical (now Abbott), where he was part of the team that acquired CardioMeMs and NanoStim.
Karl has a passion for setting up organizations for success and gives back to the community by coaching competitive youth water polo.
Karl received his B.S. degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from California State University at Northridge.
19 articles by Karl Pawlik
Written from the desk, not from a content brief.
Financial Operations
Fractional CFO for SaaS Companies: Metrics, Revenue Recognition, and Fundraising Support
SaaS finance does not look like finance in most other businesses. Revenue arrives over time instead of at the sale,…
Financial Operations
Part-Time CFO for Startups: What You Get and How Engagements Work
Most startups reach a point where the founder can no longer run finance on nights and weekends, but the numbers…
Financial Operations
Back Office Outsourcing for Startups: What to Hand Off First
Every startup reaches a point where the founder is spending nights on bookkeeping, payroll, and tax notices instead of building…
Financial Operations
What Drives the Cost of Outsourcing Your Back Office?
It is one of the first questions business owners ask when they consider outsourcing, and one of the hardest to…
Financial Operations
What Drives the Cost of Outsourced Controller Services?
It is one of the first questions business owners ask about outsourced controller services, and one of the hardest to…
Financial Operations
Fractional CFO vs. Full-Time CFO: Which Is Right for Your Business?
At some point, most growing companies have the same conversation: do we finally hire a CFO, or is there a…
Startups
Fractional CFO for Startups: When to Hire and What It Costs
Most founders can run their own finances right up until the moment they cannot. A seed-stage company with a bookkeeper…
Financial Operations
SaaS Accounting Explained: What Makes It Different
A SaaS business collects money in ways that break standard bookkeeping. A customer pays a year upfront, but the company…
Financial Operations
Web3 Accounting: How Token & Crypto Treasuries Change the Books
A Web3 company’s books look familiar at the top level: revenue, expenses, payroll, cash. The complexity starts where the cash…
Talk to the team behind the writing.
The people publishing here are the ones who run finance, HR and tax for growing companies every day.