Client Overview
Atari Inc., the iconic video game pioneer founded in 1972, faced significant finance and accounting challenges when CEO Wade Rosen assumed leadership in 2021.
Key Stats
• 50+ years in gaming
• Global operations
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The Challenge
Atari’s legacy finance and accounting operations were outdated, inefficient, and disconnected. With weak internal controls, inadequate spend management, minimal financial reporting, and no formal budgeting and forecasting process, leadership lacked the visibility, control, insights, and financial framework to support Atari’s strategic growth goals. For example:
- Accounting processes were often broken, managed by a desktop-based accounting system plagued by access and usability issues.
- Quarterly financial reporting rendered Atari leadership reactive instead of proactive.
- Cash flow forecasting was limited to 7–14 days, inviting frequent surprises and forcing Rosen into damage-control mode.
- Labor-intensive spreadsheets were used to manage Atari’s complex global multi-entity consolidation, limiting efficiency and visibility and increasing the likelihood of errors.
- Poor internal controls heightened the risk of operational inefficiencies, unreliable data, fraud, financial misstatements, and increased regulatory oversight or penalties.
- Chaotic audits characterized by missed deadlines further compounded financial, operational, and compliance risk.
CEO Wade Rosen knew his finance and accounting function needed more than simple modernization — it needed a full-on exorcism. He also knew he could count on Level10 CFO to have the crucial conversations required to quickly hone in on problems and solutions.
The Solution
Level10 CFO conducted its proprietary Business Landscape Audit to assess Atari’s financial operations and work with Rosen to devise and implement a comprehensive remediation plan. Key actions included:
- Staffing overhaul, reducing costs by 30%. Within three months, Level10 replaced Atari’s legacy staff with fractional resources, including a CFO, Controller, Analyst, Staff Accountants, and integrated offshore resources for transactional accounting.
- Targeted technology deployment, improving efficiency, accuracy, visibility, and control. Level10 helped Atari migrate to a cloud-based accounting platform, enabling real-time product-level reporting and line-of-business analytics. We also helped Atari select and deploy the right suite of technology tools to streamline and automate accounts payable, credit card and expense management, and sales tax compliance.
Comprehensive process modernization, enhancing reporting, insights, and decision-making. Level10 overhauled Atari’s accounting processes to implement full accrual accounting and automated data extraction and translation, improving accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and alignment while reducing compliance risk. To further support leadership in more effective, data-driven planning and decision-making, we developed a robust budgeting and forecasting process documenting unit economics across business lines and a custom dashboard to track ROI for all game releases.
Results & Impact
Level10 CFO unquestionably leveled up the value of Atari’s finance and accounting operations, empowering leadership with clear, real-time, data-driven insights to support more effective business decisions. Management could now focus on innovating products, building competitive advantage, and achieving its ambitious strategic growth goals — without accounting distractions or surprises. Key results included:
- Transparent, timely management reporting. Monthly book closings, custom dashboards, and real-time reporting enabled Atari leadership to respond, plan, prioritize, and pivot more effectively.
- Support for sustainable growth. Level10’s shared services model successfully integrated two new game studios in under three months, saving $500K in OpEx annually.
- Reduced operational expenses and risks. Clear budgeting and spend controls ultimately drove another $1.2M in annual OpEx reductions.
- Reduced audit costs and compliance risks. Level10 CFO met all audit deadlines and eliminated reliance on third-party services, reducing audit costs by 40% ($200K annually) and mitigating the threat of increased regulatory oversight.
- Improved accuracy, visibility, and control. Level10’s revamped cash flow forecasting process improved accuracy by 400%, extending visibility to 30+ days.
