Client Overview

‍Strava, one the most downloaded fitness apps in the world, struggled with manual Excel processes and high volume B2C subscriptions across Apple App Store, Google, and Recurly, collecting payments via Adyen and Paypal.

‍

After a failed implementation that took 2-years, they needed a system that could integrate with their general ledger (NetSuite).

‍

The Problem‍

Strava faced challenges consolidating revenue and settlements across multiple channels and currencies across the globe. The previous vendor required 100+ fragile rules and never produced auditable and accurate GAAP reporting after 2 years, leaving Strava without trust or scalability.

‍

Their multiple channels' opaque reporting blocked them from doing accurate accounting. Apple with a lack of subscriber-level visibility, taxes (VAT & GST), and FX accuracy. High volumes of cash matching with Adyen/Paypal and Recurly, plus gift subscriptions and Snowflake-based reporting forced reliance on unauditable, shifting data.

‍

To add to this, the business never stopped moving, and they needed to integrate an acquisition of a new international subsidiary, Runna. 

‍

They needed:

• A Trusted Partner
• Financial Visibility & Agility
• Risk Reduction (Audit, ASC 606 Compliance & Financial Accuracy)
• Margin Optimization (Revenue & COGS & Cost Improvement)
• Scalability & Business Continuity (Status Quo was not sustainable)

‍

The Solution‍

Strava conducted thorough due diligence for their options. Among the few options available to address their high-volume, complex revenue systems they realized only two paths were available:

• Internal build - Internally expensive, no internal engineering bandwidth, and at least a 6 month lead time.
• Partner with HubiFi - Cost effective, little engineering lift, and an opt out clause in case of non-delivery within the promised timelines. 

‍

They chose HubiFi as the clear choice for:

• Data Confidence: After a failed implementation, Strava needed accurate, verifiable data. HubiFi reconciled order-to-cash across Apple for several months and delivered the most complex scenarios in their Snowflake to Adyen flow, proving reliability when others failed.
• App Store Integration Mastery: HubiFi resolved revenue recognition, FX adjustments, and tax complexities from App Store reporting out of the box. 
• Accounting Expertise: HubiFi customized accounting policies, validated data, and streamlined testing, saved critical time for Strava’s accounting team.
• Reporting and Controls Differentiation: With deep accounting expertise, HubiFi brought reporting and controls into focus as key differentiators - bringing FP&A and accounting onto a single source of truth.
• Trust-Based Partnership: HubiFi’s flat-pricing contract with a 2-month opt-out ensured a risk-free engagement.

‍

The Outcome‍

Within 1 week of partnering with HubiFi, Strava fully automated their order-to-cash cycle for Apple, and within 2 weeks automated their most complex cross currency accounting flows and finally identified upstream data issues for the engineering team to resolve. They seamlessly integrated an entire acquired subsidiary’s O2C accounting in 1 month.

‍

This resulted in:

• Risk Reduction (Audit, ASC 606 Compliance & Financial Accuracy) - Converted from Cash basis to GAAP Compliant Accrual basis, solidified their control environment, as well as their consolidation and acquisition accounting.
• Multi-Currency and Multi-Entity Accounting - Strava can now report in local currency, functional currency, and reporting currency at a few clicks of a mouse across all O2C. 
• Financial Visibility (Lack of Decision Data & Business Agility) - Gained visibility into product margins by customer and product to inform management. 
• Scalability & Business Continuity (Status Quo was not sustainable) - Creating a scalable back office to grow revenue without adding headcount. 
• Finance’s profile raised - The data curated by the accounting team through HubiFi became the true revenue numbers used by the entire organization from FP&A to management.  

‍