Gena Graziano
Integrator/Chief of Staff
Gena brings over 20 years of experience in accounting and small business operations. As Chief of Staff and Onboarding Specialist at First Steps Financial, she is known for her meticulous organization and unwavering commitment to exceptional customer service. Gena seamlessly blends strategic insight with a deep understanding of financial intricacies to support client success.
Experience/Education
- 20+ years accounting and small business experience
Certifications
- Intuit Certified QuickBooks Level 2 ProAdvisor
- New Jersey State Notary Public
- Avalara Certified
- Bill.com Certified
Areas of Focus
- Small business accounting
- Client onboarding and operations
- Financial systems and process optimization
- Customer service and client relations
Our Latest Insight
"Accounting is a stick in the mud." "I'm not really sure what a COO does all day." "The CFO just plays around with their little Excel sheets." You have probably heard one of those lines. You may have thought one yourself. They sound like harmless office humor. They actually point to something expensive. In most growing service businesses, nobody has ever defined how operations and accounting work together. The people who produce your financial reports sit outside the very decisions those reports are meant to inform. That gap costs you every single month, quietly, in profit that should have been there. Part 1 of a 5-part series on the COO and Accounting relationship
In modern business management, effective capacity planning requires far more than matching supply with demand—it demands a rigorous financial framework. Every unit of unused capacity represents sunk cost and margin erosion, while every unit of insufficient capacity risks churn and missed revenue. By evaluating capacity planning as a financial exercise, organizations can translate labor hours, utilization rates, and operational throughput into clear financial metrics like cost of goods sold (COGS) and return on invested capital (ROIC). This guide explores how to integrate operational capacity into your financial planning and analysis (FP&A) cycle to drive sustainable, cash-efficient scale.
In a service-based business, time is literally money, and every day an invoice goes unpaid, your margin shrinks. Unlike product businesses that can rely on physical inventory to back up value, service providers face a unique cash flow vulnerability: you've already delivered the work, paid your team, and covered overhead long before the client settles the bill. That makes managing your Accounts Receivable (AR) aging schedule critical to survival. But how do you know if your outstanding invoices are normal or a sign of trouble? Understanding key AR aging benchmarks, and where your service business stands relative to industry standards, is the first step toward reclaiming your cash flow and protecting your bottom line.This article walks you through the 30-60-90 AR Health Check and what healthy numbers look like for your business.
