Overview
Pride’s bookkeeping capacity has undergone significant change in the past 18 months. An internal bookkeeper departed in November 2025, leaving a critical capacity gap that was temporarily filled by CEO Mat O’Keefe before Shaemus Corcoran stepped into the role as permanent pro bono bookkeeper in April 2026.
Timeline and Transitions
November 2025 – April 2026: Mat O’Keefe (CEO) managed bookkeeping ad-hoc whilst building the business. During this period:
- Xero P&L and Balance Sheet were not trusted by leadership
- Unreconciled transactions accumulated to 1,200+
- Square payment integration created a $4.67M phantom balance
- Tax lodgement and financial reporting were delayed
April 2026 onwards: Shaemus Corcoran (Director) assumed bookkeeping role at ~1 hour per week, structured as permanent pro bono service. Impact to date:
- Reduced unreconciled transactions from 1,200 to 379
- Resolved the Square phantom balance completely
- Stabilised Xero data quality and reporting accuracy
Capacity Risk and SLA Gap
The current arrangement has significant vulnerabilities:
- No SLA: Pro bono arrangement has no service-level guarantee or backup coverage
- Single Point of Failure: If Shae is unavailable (illness, other work priorities), bookkeeping reverts to Mat, who cannot sustain both CEO and bookkeeper responsibilities
- Sustainability Question: Shae’s 1-hour-per-week allocation is at limit; further improvements require either paid bookkeeper hire or workflow automation
- Cost Trade-off: Pro bono saves salary cost but increases operational risk and limits feature completeness
Financial Management Improvement
Before Shae’s involvement, the finance function was substantially weakened by capacity constraints. Key improvements since April 2026:
- Data Quality: Xero is now considered reliable for decision-making
- Tax Readiness: Tax lodgement documentation has improved significantly
- Reconciliation: Bank reconciliation in progress (significant backlog remaining)
- Reporting: Monthly P&L and Balance Sheet now generate confidence
Succession and Sustainability Options
To move beyond capacity risk:
- Hire Paid Bookkeeper: Frees Shae, provides formal SLA, allows continuous improvement (~$30k–$40k per annum)
- Workflow Automation: Reduce manual tasks (invoice processing, bank feeds, recurring entries) to lower time requirement
- Distributed Model: Cross-train Mat or Operations team member on core reconciliation tasks as backup
Related Pages
- Shaemus Corcoran — bookkeeper profile and role
- Mat O’Keefe — CEO and founder; subject to bookkeeping capacity constraints
- Financial Reporting — depends on bookkeeping quality and timeliness
- Succession Planning — bookkeeper role critical for business continuity
- Technology - Systems Inventory — automation opportunities in accounting workflow