How Public saved time, cut costs, and optimized their accounting function with MAVI

As AI and automation reshaped how tech companies think about headcount, Public was working toward automating its accounting workflows, but Lead of Accounting Operations Steve Nolan recognized there was still a need for a manual component – someone to own, oversee, and shepherd the process. Hiring a full-time, junior-level employee wasn't the most cost-effective path, and previous experience with alternative staffing solutions hadn't worked out.

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Public had worked with Robert Half to bring on a contractual hire, but the quality wasn't there. Steve found himself constantly monitoring output to make sure standards were being met – creating more problems than it solved. "It was quite time-consuming, and we didn't see what we needed from them."

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Then a key manager departed. Steve and Staff Accountant Yutang Xu were left absorbing significantly more responsibility and urgently needed support so they could step back from prep work and refocus on higher-priority tasks.

Speed was the priority. Within a day of engaging MAVI, three candidate profiles were delivered and interviews were scheduled immediately. That combination of velocity and precision was a significant factor in the team's decision to move forward.

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Steve was still unfamiliar with MAVI's talent pool at that point, but the candidate profiles quickly changed his thinking.

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"We had a specific need, and the way that MAVI laid out the three candidates and their skillsets – I think that was incredibly helpful to see what they had done, what level they're at, and what their technical expertise is in certain tools in the office of the CFO."

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What stood out wasn't just the credentials – it was what they meant for how quickly someone could get to work. "In my mind, I was like, 'Wow, I don't need to train them anymore; they understand how to use NetSuite. I just need to teach them our process, but the actual technicalities – they know how to press the keys and perform the function.'"

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That was a meaningful contrast to previous staffing experiences.

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"The skillset is incredibly strong – they have a great knowledge of what we need them to do, whether that be technical from different tools, also Excel – just very polished, putting out good output instead of other contractors we've worked with who you need to monitor and guide, adding more work for us internally."

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Public now has two fractional MAVI hires on the team: a part-time Senior Accountant and a part-time AP Analyst. Both are US-caliber professionals at a fraction of the cost, with minimal oversight required and genuine integration into the team.

The results have shown up on multiple fronts.

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"Huge cost savings – time is money at the end of the day."

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Offloading manual work to MAVI's global accounting talent gave Steve and Yutang the capacity to focus on work that actually required their judgment. The additional support also gave Yutang room to develop – he is now a Senior Accountant at Public.

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The MAVI Senior Accountant took full ownership of the weekly AP workflow, building a scalable end-to-end process and producing cleaner outputs to leadership. She also led a significant initiative that Public had wanted to address for some time: migrating journal entries to NetSuite for cash reporting. She drove that project herself, automating the process. The team's weekly cash report now lives in NetSuite, so by month-end close, 30 days of transactions are already recorded and reconciled.

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"Massive automation, massive efficiency gained, and massive value added."

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What Steve hadn't fully anticipated was how much initiative the MAVI Senior Accountant would bring to process improvement. When assigned work, he encouraged her to share ideas on how to make things better. She responded by writing her own process documents for Public's workflows and collaborating directly with Steve and Yutang to improve internal processes. "[She] led the charge for different workflows – huge value add."

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For Public, the results have gone well beyond filling a gap. Their MAVI hires have become integral members of the team, helping the company scale without the friction that had characterized previous staffing experiences.

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"Essentially, they're key components of our team that have helped us grow – and have helped themselves grow, as well."