How to scale smart at speed by partnering to build a finance platform

Mallory Factor, President and Chief Executive Officer of IntraBio, had originally approached Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) about conducting an audit. EY professionals suggested an IPO readiness assessment. The assessment revealed three areas that needed to be brought to the next level to enhance the company’s capabilities across people, processes and technology.

To highlight the contrast between leading at a small company compared with a larger one, McLennan used the analogy of brick walls. The essential business processes are the “bricks.” The “mortar” is the everyday activities and communications that connect the different parts of the business and help it function. At small organizations, leaders are involved in the connecting activities, but at large companies there’s a lot more mortar required to keep things connected. Leaders often spend so much time managing across the business that they have less capacity to drive strategic initiatives, such as launching new programs, planning for development or using data analysis to drive commercial decision-making.

In IntraBio’s case, its growth and expansion would require building out an extensive finance function internally or finding another solution to provide the mortar so its executive team could focus on the bricks. EY and SAP teams provided this innovative solution.

The teams had already been discussing the possibility of creating a scalable finance platform for hybrid companies to simply plug into. The cloud-based EY Integrated Finance Managed Services (IFMS) solution has a standardized “core” with extensions and add-ons that enable companies to customize the solution when needed. IFMS leverages inputs from across the full spectrum of EY solutions to streamline operations. IntraBio was able to focus on its core competencies while the solution helped to deliver finance support.

With the EY team’s knowledge and SAP’s cutting-edge technology — SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition enterprise management solution — IntraBio has transformed into an IPO-ready commercial life sciences company with a fit-for-purpose finance operation primed for efficiency and growth. McLennan said the resulting agility allowed IntraBio to get IPO-ready quickly and noted that the solution was up and running within four months.

Finance tasks under control, McLennan is free to focus on strategy and other matters that drive value creation rather than getting mired in day-to-day activities.

With the efficiencies and scalability that are now possible, IntraBio doesn’t have to follow the old model of hiring. “I’m a department of two but have a world-class finance back office,” McLennan said. “I don’t have to manage a whole department of people but instead oversee the EY IFMS solution and have the chance to think about the next challenges. I can scale superfast right now with EY team providing the lift.”

A digital approach to contracting and purchasing can heighten security, reduce errors and enhance transparency, all of which are essential for even the smallest companies. IntraBio had always handled things manually, with only the CEO and CAO having signoff on contracts that provided for oversight on all aspects of the business. But Factor and McLennan eventually discovered there had been some unforeseen risks associated with that process. “A vendor could come to us and say, ‘We don’t like your terms and conditions. We’re going to swap those out,’” McLennan said. “Historically, that discussion could take time to get to the CEO for review or resulted in unnecessary urgency to accept terms that we may not believe are favorable to the company.”

The more sophisticated contracting and purchasing process delivered by IFMS introduced advanced controls, and immediately established purchase orders and approval levels, as well as formalized onboarding procedures for new vendors. McLennan described the approach before the implementation of IFMS, saying “It was a startup environment with typical startup infrastructure, where processes were informal and things may have been occurring without optimal coordination — often leaving us reacting to decisions or actions.” Today, unapproved items are flagged, and executives can review them on a prioritized and timely basis.

Having greater visibility and more robust approval methods fits with IntraBio’s overall approach: cautious, methodical and transparent. “We’re still a small company,” McLennan said. “We want to empower people to make decisions as well as know what we’re spending money on; that it counts toward the end goal and that it creates a lot of value.”

IntraBio is rapidly expanding into Europe and the Middle East, seizing new opportunities with the security of having global systems already in place. Thanks to the worldwide reach of SAP^® and EY organization, resources to successfully navigate the challenges of establishing operations abroad — from compliance and supply chain logistics to tax structures and language barriers — are integrated into IntraBio’s infrastructure. Reflecting on the risks of underestimating these complexities, McLennan has seen examples of international expansion go awry at his previous companies and underscored the value of IntraBio’s forward-thinking approach.

Companies make numerous decisions as they develop, and it is important to understand the ones that have longer-term implications (e.g., tax planning) as they go through their lifecycle and carry those decisions with them into maturity. Businesses must plan ahead for growth. Assumptions about where their company will be taxed, for example, can cost the company dearly later on. “When it comes to those big items, don’t cut corners,” McLennan said.

Transitioning from one enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to another is a major investment — not just of capital, but of time and energy required from staff. For companies preparing for growth, it’s a pivotal part of the journey. Reflecting on IntraBio’s recent implementation, McLennan emphasized the importance of getting it right the first time. “This is the last ERP we ever implement; we won’t need to anticipate any further changes down the line,” he said. “We’re now built for the future.”

In the fast-moving biotech industry, being ready to act when opportunities arise isn’t optional, it’s essential. As McLennan noted in the context of IntraBio’s IPO ambitions, “If you want to go public and the window opens, you’ve got to be ready.”

Summary 

As companies scale, the processes that once held everything together can quickly become obsolete, pulling leadership away from strategic priorities. By investing early in a proven, scalable finance solution, you don’t just prevent risk, you unlock the full potential of your organization from day one. Building for the future from the outset isn’t just smart, it’s transformative. It positions you to seize opportunities the moment they arise — and to lead with confidence, today and for years to come.