Thinking Business > Interview with Frank Skavland, CFO of Xait (pronounced excite)
Frank_Skavland_Xait

Interview with Frank Skavland, CFO of Xait (pronounced excite)

After rising to Senior Manager position in Corporate Finance in EY Transaction Frank Skavland took the role of CFO at XAIT. Frank has a Master of Science in Business & Administration from NHH, Norway and lives in Stavanger with his girlfriend and 2 children.

Not wasting any time, Frank oversaw Xait’s acquisition of US and UK based Blueprint CPQ and he will play a major role in the company’s ambitious growth plans over the coming years.

Xait is a global Software Technology Company, headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, providing enterprise customers with software for document co-authoring, automation and collaboration. XaitPorter, the company’s core co-authoring software, enables hundreds of people on multiple locations to work together simultaneously on for example complex tender documents.

Celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2020, Xait is experiencing strong growth across industries, with major corporations such as Honeywell and Siemens on the client list.

We caught up with Frank to learn more about life as a Private Equity backed CFO, making the transition from Big 4 to private company and the transformation of the CFO role over the past decade.

What was the driver behind making the leap from the EY to Xait? I’d been in investment banking before I joined EY, essentially doing the same thing and whilst I enjoyed what I did, I needed new challenges. It was actually my girlfriend who introduced me to Xait as she met them through work and was really impressed by them – they were looking for a new CFO.I knew I couldn’t take on just any CFO role. Being a software business, owned by private equity I knew Xait would have a growth agenda with high ambitions which I wanted to be part of.  Although a 20 year old business they had reshuffled the whole organisation and brought in an entirely new management team, a new set up in an old business. To me that translates that no ideas are stupid. The result is a more profitable than ever business that is growing. I felt I could contribute to the business with my knowledge of selling businesses.

How did you find the transition from the institutional setup of EY, to a more hands-on role?
The transition from EY to such a dynamic organisation – I love it! I’ve been in an institutional set up for my whole career – lots of red tape and one guy in a big organisation, now I can make a real difference.

Did you feel that your experience in Corporate Finance gave you a good insight into the inner workings of private companies?
I’ve worked and advised CFOs my entire career about selling businesses so I’m now doing what I have been telling clients for years. Although, I now understand the daily struggles of CFO’s as they consume a lot of your time. Consultants would benefit from this knowledge!

The role of CFO has become unrecognisable over the past decade. You need to be far more rounded, more strategic and with fingers on the pulse across the whole of the business (and outside of it too). There’s far more crossover to MD and CEO, do you think it’s a good thing to have this level of diversity at board level?
The roles of CEO and CFO work well in this business, there is a good balance. Its an advantage that the CEO is the diplomat, and the CFO role can take on a challenging role if things aren’t going so well. Both roles give a good dynamic in the management meetings.

There is a Norwegian saying that vaguely translates as having lots of space under the ceiling in meetings – meaning there is room for heated discussions, something which is encouraged at Xait!

Now that you’re poacher turned game-keeper, how is it dealing with Private Equity firms from the other end of the spectrum.
I really like this as can see what private equity can do. I’m very keen on doing a secondary sale to another Private Equity firm to give us more exposure in the US – that would do miracles for us. They are high demanding so I need to prepare the business for international delivery and the expectations that come with that.

What piece of advice would you give any trainee or trained accountants with aspirations to become a CFO?
I had that discussion with myself ‘do I have what it takes to become a CFO?’. I’ve met a lot of CFO’s during my consultant years and I told myself that I could match at least half of them in expertise! So I went for it!

I am a curious person and anything I need gaining knowledge on I find routes on how to get it. Asking CFO friends, remaining continuously curious – it goes a long way. I work more now than I ever did in EY but I now clearly understand my role in the organisation. What my mandate is. What’s expected of me. Once you get that in your blood then you can start trusting yourself more.

What’s next for XAIT?
Viking has owned us for 5 years. We’ve had a setback due to Covid – having had 40% growth in 2019, we still had double-digit growth in 2020, but not inline with our budget, so we’ve moved to M&A including an acquisition in the UK, in the ‘Sales enablement space’ – we want to help businesses to sell, making complex tender and proposal documents. This can be done collaboratively from anywhere in the world. Our new acquisition of Blueprint CPQ gives us great growth potential and complements our existing offering. We’re also in the middle of another acquisition in the US and we’re hoping for at least another in 2021 – on top of organic growth, there’s a lot on our plate. Our first target is to hit revenues of $10m. Then we hope to become more attractive to the larger PE firms and we have a few lining up already.

How do you manage your work / life balance?
I managed it my entire career. 4.30-7pm – you don’t touch that – I spend it with my family, but I have no problem opening the computer later. With the pandemic, one advantage of being at home is going running at lunchtime. If you don’t do it, you find yourself staying in one place and never stepping outside – you’ll go nuts! Force yourself to go out of the house.

 Quick fire round:

Beach or mountain?
Beach

Fine wine or cocktails?
Cocktails

Home working or office?
Office

Fast cars or luxury?
Luxury

Movies or books?
Movies

It certainly sounds like Xait has picked a winner in Frank and vice versa. And we’re looking forward to watching their continued growth.

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