CFO services for transportation and logistics software.
Logistics software earns on shipments, loads, and miles — and often sits between shippers and carriers, moving their money. We bring finance leadership that has run finance inside logistics operations and inside the software that serves them, and knows where usage pricing, payouts, and working capital collide.
The finance problems that define this segment.
Usage-based revenue follows freight cycles.
Pricing per shipment, load, or mile ties revenue to customers' volumes, which swing with freight markets; forecasting needs a volume model, not a seat count.
Marketplaces carry gross-vs-net and working-capital questions.
A platform that pays carriers and bills shippers may report gross freight or net take rate, and funds carrier payouts before shipper payment arrives — a working-capital business inside a software company.
Carrier and driver payouts are a treasury function.
Payout timing, quick-pay programs, and factoring economics are revenue levers and cash risks.
Hardware bundles complicate margin.
Telematics devices, dashcams, and installation sold with subscriptions need separate recognition and margin.
Customer concentration and contract structure.
Large shippers and carriers on enterprise contracts with volume tiers and minimum commitments drive revenue; their renewal terms matter more than logo count.
Integration and onboarding cost per customer is high.
Connections to transportation management systems, electronic logging devices, and enterprise systems are built per customer.
Fuel, surcharge, and pass-through items distort revenue.
Platforms that pass through fuel surcharges or accessorials must keep them out of net revenue.
How we run finance here.
- Revenue architecture — subscription, usage, hardware, pass-through, and marketplace take rate separated; gross/net determined with auditors.
- Volume-driven forecasting — customer shipment volume model with freight-market sensitivity.
- Marketplace working capital — payout timing, shipper days sales outstanding, quick-pay economics, facility sizing.
- Hardware margin and recognition — device cost, installation, and subscription bundles unbundled.
- Customer and contract economics — contribution by customer including integration cost; renewal calendar with revenue at risk.
- Investor pack — annual recurring revenue (ARR) vs. usage revenue, net take rate, gross margin by revenue type, net revenue retention by customer cohort, burn and runway.
- Treasury and credit — counterparty exposure on both sides of the marketplace, credit terms, bad-debt reserving.
Key metrics we build and report.
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Subscription ARR vs. usage revenue vs. marketplace net revenue | Revenue quality |
| Shipments / loads processed and revenue per unit | Volume economics |
| Net take rate (marketplaces) | Monetization |
| Gross margin by revenue type incl. hardware | True margin |
| Days payable to carriers vs. days sales outstanding from shippers | Working-capital gap |
| Quick-pay uptake and fee income | Treasury lever |
| Customer concentration and contract minimums | Revenue risk |
| Integration cost per customer and payback | Delivery economics |
| Net revenue retention by cohort | Expansion vs. churn |
| Bad-debt rate by counterparty type | Credit risk |
Worked example.
A freight marketplace with a software subscription tier, $42M gross freight, $5.6M net revenue, $1.9M subscription ARR.
The plan: revenue restated with pass-throughs out; working-capital facility sized to the payout gap; quick-pay reported as a revenue line; hardware unbundled in pricing; concentration reduction targets.
Where we’ve done this.
Freight marketplaces and brokerage software; transportation management and fleet platforms; last-mile delivery software; logistics operators that were the buyers; sponsor-backed logistics technology platforms. Pattern-level only.
Our revenue is volatile with freight markets. How do we forecast?
With a customer volume model tied to freight-market indicators, and a subscription base reported separately from usage.
Should we fund carrier quick-pay ourselves?
It depends on cost of capital, uptake, and fee income; we model it against a factoring partner and a facility.
How do investors view marketplace revenue?
Net take rate and gross margin on net revenue; gross freight is a volume metric, not revenue.
Can you help with hardware bundles?
Yes — recognition, margin, and pricing so hardware does not drag the software margin investors are pricing.
Further reading.
The 13-Week Cash Forecast for a Behavioral Health Group
How to build and run a rolling 13-week cash forecast in a behavioral health practice — collections by payer, payroll timing, a worked example, and the decisions it makes possible.
Read article → InsightLender Readiness: How a Behavioral Health Group Gets — and Keeps — a Line of Credit
What banks look for when lending to a behavioral health practice, how to size a line of credit against the receivables cycle, covenant traps, and a worked sizing example.
Read article → InsightThe Monthly Management Report for a Behavioral Health Group: What Belongs In It
The metrics, statements, and commentary a behavioral health practice's monthly report should contain, with a sample page-one — and the order that makes it useful to owners and boards.
Read article →Insights for this vertical.
SaaS-specific insights are being published.
Tell us about the company.
One conversation about where the numbers stand and what the next stage needs from finance. We will tell you where we can help, where you need someone else, and what it would cost.
The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute accounting, tax, legal, or investment advice. Revenue recognition, sales tax, and investor reporting matters for software companies depend on contract terms, jurisdiction, and the specific facts of the business. Figures in examples are illustrative. See our full Legal Disclaimer.