# Finance

URL: /agents/finance · Id: `team:finance`

> The Finance Team moves and records the money: Invoices, dunning, refunds within a Limit, payouts, the monthly close, tax, and runway.

The Finance Team moves and records the money: [Invoices](/business/nouns/invoice), dunning, refunds within a [Limit](/business/nouns/limit), payouts, the monthly close, tax, and runway. [Agents](/business/nouns/agent) fill its three seats from the first day.

## What it owns
- [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice)
- [Subscription](/business/nouns/subscription)
- [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction)
- [Entry](/business/nouns/entry)
- [Period](/business/nouns/period)
- [Meter](/business/nouns/meter)
- [Entitlement](/business/nouns/entitlement)
- [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate)
- [Limit](/business/nouns/limit)
- [Policy](/business/nouns/policy)

## How it runs
Three [Roles](/business/nouns/role) staff the [Team](/business/nouns/team): the [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) keeps the books, the [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) collects, and the [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) governs cash going out. Each wakes on a trigger: the first paid [Order](/business/nouns/order), the first month to close, the first bill or funded [Demand Budget](/business/nouns/demand-budget). A [Human](/business/nouns/human) can take any seat with no other change.

Every money move posts [Entries](/business/nouns/entry) to one double-entry ledger, and every Stripe [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction) reconciles to them. Each [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) sells through its own connected account and keeps its own profit and loss.

Every Role that spends, refunds, or pays works inside a [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) and the Startup's spend state. An [Action](/business/nouns/action) above its Limit becomes an [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) for the next Role up. Refunds, payouts, price changes, and ad spend also wait out a delay window that any watcher can use to pause them.

[Dunning](/workflows/processes/billing/dunning) and [Tax filing](/workflows/processes/books/tax-filing) run daily, and the [Default-alive check](/workflows/processes/runway/default-alive-check) runs weekly. The [Monthly close](/workflows/processes/books/monthly-close) locks each [Period](/business/nouns/period) by working day 5, and the unit-economics review follows it.

The [playbook](/workflows/finance/playbook) explains how the Team works. Five chapters go deeper: [the funds flow](/systems/finance/funds-flow), [getting paid](/systems/finance/getting-paid), [revenue recognition](/systems/finance/revenue-counting), [policies](/systems/finance/policies), and [unit economics](/systems/finance/unit-economics). [The Finance Team's processes](/workflows/finance/processes) lists every [Process](/business/nouns/process) it runs.

## Roles
| Role | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) | The Finance Lead keeps the books: it closes each Period, reports tax at the entity total, and sets the money Limits every Role works within. |
| [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) | The Billing Specialist bills, charges, and collects: it bills on done, retries failed payments, and refunds within its Limit. |
| [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) | The Treasurer manages cash: it pays Suppliers and Partners, keeps spend inside each envelope, and reports the default-alive line weekly. |

## Processes
| Process | Accountable | Workflows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Books](/workflows/processes/books) | [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) | [Monthly close](/workflows/processes/books/monthly-close), [Tax filing](/workflows/processes/books/tax-filing) |
| [Billing](/workflows/processes/billing) | [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) | [Dunning](/workflows/processes/billing/dunning), [Issue a refund](/workflows/processes/billing/issue-refund), [Invoice reminders](/workflows/processes/billing/invoice-reminders), [Renewal notice](/workflows/processes/billing/renewal-notice), [Answer a chargeback](/workflows/processes/billing/answer-chargeback) |
| [Runway](/workflows/processes/runway) | [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) | [Default-alive check](/workflows/processes/runway/default-alive-check) |
| [Expense approval](/workflows/processes/expense-approval) | [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) | [Approve spend](/workflows/processes/expense-approval/approve-spend) |
| [Supplier payouts](/workflows/processes/supplier-payouts) | [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) | [Pay suppliers](/workflows/processes/supplier-payouts/pay-suppliers) |
| [Budget](/workflows/processes/budget) | [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) | [Monthly budget](/workflows/processes/budget/monthly-budget) |
| [Payables](/workflows/processes/payables) | [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) | [Pay bills](/workflows/processes/payables/pay-bills) |
| [Trials and plan changes](/workflows/processes/plan-changes) | [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) | [Convert a trial](/workflows/processes/plan-changes/convert-trial), [Change a plan](/workflows/processes/plan-changes/change-plan), [Cancel a subscription](/workflows/processes/plan-changes/cancel-subscription) |

## Plays
None.

## Metrics
| Metric | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| Monthly recurring revenue | Revenue from active Subscriptions, normalized to one month. |
| Gross margin | Revenue minus direct delivery cost, as a share of revenue. |
| Days to close | Working days from month end to a locked Period. |
| Recovery rate | Share of failed payments collected within 30 days. |
| Runway | Months until cash runs out at the trailing three-month net burn. |
| <a id="fully-loaded-cost"></a>Fully loaded Cost | Fully loaded Cost sums every Cost the Startup’s Actions post, plus its share of shared Cost under the stated allocation rule. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="cost-coverage"></a>Cost coverage | Cost coverage is outside revenue divided by fully loaded Cost over the same window; 1 or more means revenue pays for the Startup. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="contribution-margin"></a>Contribution margin | Contribution margin is a paid Offer’s outside revenue minus the Costs its delivery and acquisition post, as a share of that revenue. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="cac-payback"></a>Acquisition payback | Acquisition payback is fully loaded acquisition cost divided by monthly contribution per outside Customer, in days. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="ltv"></a>Lifetime value | Lifetime value is the contribution an outside Customer is expected to produce, capped at 24 months. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="contribution-per-outcome"></a>Contribution per outcome | Contribution per outcome is outside revenue minus delivery and acquisition Costs, divided by the accepted outcomes in the window. Owner: [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead). |
| <a id="days-sales-outstanding"></a>Days sales outstanding | Days sales outstanding is the average days from an Invoice being sent to its payment. Owner: [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist). |
| <a id="runway-days"></a>Runway days | Runway days is the days of cash left at the average net burn of the last 90 days. Owner: [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer). |

## Works with
- [Customer Team](/agents/customer)
- [Founding Team](/agents/founding)
- [Legal Team](/agents/legal)
- [Marketing Team](/agents/marketing)
- [Operations Team](/agents/operations)
- [Sales Team](/agents/sales)