Deferred revenue that doesn't tie
Balances live in spreadsheets, and revenue follows billing instead of performance. The waterfall and the contract file tell two different stories.
ŌSensei (formerly Sensei FinanceOS) · SaaS
The close for a subscription business.
Revenue you can prove, MRR that ties, and investor reporting by a fixed workday. The SaaS build runs revenue recognition under ASC 606, the deferred revenue waterfall, and the MRR bridge — gated, so the close is done when the checks pass, not when the calendar runs out.
The close runs on a Finance Operating System I designed and built — an agent-led close, with the major workflows run by an agent I direct and review.
20+ years accounting & finance
Controller-level leadership
MAcct + MSDS
SaaS system built & proved
33/33 pilot checks — sample close
Gates at WD+1 · WD+3 · WD+5
These checks are from internal pilot builds, backtested on worked sample closes. They are not client results, and no client data was used.
Founder, Sensei Advisors
JoMar Hester, MAcct, MSDS
Founder | Financial Systems Architect
Fractional CFO / Controller · ŌSensei
G1 · WD+1Deferred revenue waterfall complete — revenue tied back to contracts.
G2 · WD+3MRR bridge to $0 unexplained — every movement accounted for.
G3 · WD+3Three statements tie — the pack agrees with itself.
G4 · Audit-readyEvidence and workpapers checked to PCAOB standards.
The problem
Where SaaS accounting breaks.
Subscription revenue looks simple from the outside. Inside the ledger, it breaks in predictable places — and each one surfaces at the worst time: a board meeting, a fundraise, a diligence request.
MRR that moves unexplained
New, expansion, contraction, and churn blend into one number that changes every time someone rebuilds it. Nobody can say why it moved.
Side letters outside the system
Terms agreed in email never reach the contract file — and quietly change what the revenue should be. A control gap and a fraud risk in one.
Billing that ≠ the books
Subscriptions, proration, failed payments, and dunning run in the billing system. The ledger gets a summary — and the differences accumulate.
Costs handled inconsistently
Sales commissions and internal-use software are capitalized, expensed, or forgotten depending on the month — ASC 340-40 and ASC 350-40 applied by mood.
Reporting rebuilt by hand
Every month, someone assembles the investor pack from the general ledger again. Runway and KPIs are a project, not an output.
The system
Built once, for SaaS. Run every month.
ŌSensei for SaaS is a complete close system — revenue, billing, costs, and reporting — installed on your existing accounting system, whatever that system is.
Revenue recognition — ASC 606
Performance obligations identified per contract, recognition scheduled against delivery, and side letters captured as a control — so recognized revenue is revenue you can defend.
Deferred revenue waterfall
The waterfall rolls by customer and contract — billings, recognition, remaining balance — and completes at Gate G1, Workday +1.
MRR / ARR bridge
New, expansion, contraction, and churn bridged every month to $0 unexplained at Gate G2 — with net revenue retention computed from the same numbers, not a second set.
Subscription billing, reconciled
Billing activity — subscriptions, proration, dunning, collections — reconciled to the ledger monthly, so the billing system and the books cannot drift apart.
Contract costs & capitalized software
Commissions under ASC 340-40 and internal-use software under ASC 350-40, capitalized and amortized on a stated policy — the same way every month.
Investor reporting
Cash, runway, and the KPI pack produced from closed books at Gate G3 — decision-ready and investor-ready, because the statements already tie.
Audit-ready
Designed to be audited: the PCAOB layer.
Every ŌSensei build is built to US GAAP, with SEC-reporting discipline, SOX-ready controls, and a PCAOB layer — audit evidence and workpaper discipline built to PCAOB standards.
After the close gates pass, a separate Gate G4 — Audit-Ready — checks evidence, workpapers, and review. A failed G4 blocks the words “audit-ready,” not the statements.
International
Built for US and international diligence: the International layer.
ŌSensei is one build with modular activation. Each client picks a US track or an International track — the system underneath is the same. Every standard is anchored two ways: to the FASB Codification and to IFRS Accounting Standards as issued by the IASB. FASB- and IASB-friendly by design, so a diligence team reads the same file on either side of the Atlantic — no translation.
Framework set per entity
Each entity carries its statutory framework, the group reporting framework, and its presentation currency on one register. Nothing is forced into a single framework.
The bridge close
Local statutory close first. Then the framework bridge. Then group consolidation, then the investor pack. The bridge ties with $0 unexplained — or the close does not pass Gate G5.
Instruments read both ways
SAFEs, convertibles, preferred shares, and warrants are analysed under both frameworks before signing — because the same instrument can be equity in one framework and a liability in the other.
Local rules stay local
Statutory calendars, indirect taxes, withholding, and R&D credit evidence are captured in registers, and local advisors file. ŌSensei never replaces the local statutory accountant.
5 vertical pilots482 pilot acceptance checks passedGate G5 Diligence-Ready — Pre-seed to Series C8 deliverables per vertical (IX-1 to IX-8)
In the SaaS pilot: an IFRS 16 lease bridge moved the UK subsidiary trial balance from £741,000 to £766,000, and the consolidated trial balance balanced at $8,340,940.
How it starts
Two ways to engage. One fixed price.
Start with a short diagnostic. If ŌSensei is a fit, the scope, price, and outcome are fixed before we start. No hourly billing.
ŌSensei Installed
The SaaS system installed on your existing accounting system: reconciliations, schedules, review checkpoints, responsibility matrices, recurring workflows, gates, and reporting deadlines.
ŌSensei Operated
Sensei runs the close on the installed system. The major workflows are run by an agent I direct and review; judgment, exceptions, and sign-off stay with a person.
Productized, not hourly
Fixed scope. Fixed price. Defined outcome. The price is fixed after a short diagnostic, before work starts — the same model on every engagement.
See the system
The full SaaS system and a one-page sample of the close are available on request.
Request a sampleFounder
Built by a Controller.
The SaaS system was designed and built by a Controller with 20+ years in accounting and finance — public accounting at Grant Thornton, SEC reporting work at a public manufacturer, and a data-science layer on top.
MAcctMSDS20+ yearsController leadershipFinancial Systems Architecture
Start with the accounting problem
If the SaaS numbers are hard to trust, the system needs work.
Tell me what is happening in your accounting or finance operation. If ŌSensei is a fit, the scope, price, and outcome are fixed before we start. No hourly billing.
Prefer email? jomar@senseiadvisors.com
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