How ‘Scrubbed’ Delivers Financial Services for Every Stage of Business Growth

Scrubbed Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Gani Laguisma’s accounting, auditing, and financial experience spans almost four decades. Today, Scrubbed delivers talent to its clients for comprehensive support across a diverse range of services, catering to businesses’ evolving needs.

Gani Laguisma, together with his close friend Mark Pineda, established Scrubbed, a global professional services firm providing expert accounting, audit, tax, and advisory services, in 2012. Headquartered in San Francisco with operations in the Philippines, Scrubbed’s team of 1,200 skilled professionals assists businesses globally. Their comprehensive solutions cover everything from basic bookkeeping to complex financial planning and analysis. But where does the company name come from?

“My business partner and I were brainstorming about the name, and we knew we didn’t want to go with the traditional way of using a family name. As a Silicon Valley startup, we wanted to appeal to local businesses, as they were the very companies we started offering services to,” Laguisma said.

In accounting, scrubbed refers to the process of cleaning or reviewing financial data to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with accounting standards or regulatory requirements. Scrubbing financial data is crucial for maintaining the reliability and trustworthiness of financial statements and reports.

“In our line of business, ‘scrubbed’ is a buzzword. It means that the financial data is clean; it’s been thoroughly examined. Our brand was born,” Laguisma says.

More than a decade later, the founders still commit themselves to their vision: To offer high-quality accounting and finance services to U.S. companies by leveraging highly skilled talent in the Philippines. Today, Scrubbed continues to deliver exceptional results and career opportunities for its passionate professionals, known as “Scrubbees.”

The company values integrity, excellence, empathy, and openness in its interactions with clients and employees.

Core Services

“At the core of our services is full-service bookkeeping and accounting, where we handle every aspect of financial management, from general ledger maintenance, purchase-to-pay, and cost accounting to financial reporting and end-of-month closing. Our team ensures accurate bank reconciliation, efficient order-to-cash processes, seamless systems implementation, and robust payroll setup and support, providing businesses with a solid financial foundation,” Laguisma said.

Scrubbed also offers expertise in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and sustainability, helping businesses navigate the complexities of sustainability reporting, identify risks and opportunities through comprehensive assessments, and manage ESG-related transactions. Its services extend to stakeholder engagement, policy advisory, and the creation of sustainability training programs, helping companies integrate sustainable practices into their core operations.

The company’s talent also provides income tax preparation and filing services, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Through strategic tax planning and advisory services, Scrubbed helps businesses optimize their tax positions and navigate the intricacies of tax laws.

Technical accounting support is designed for businesses requiring specialized expertise, offering research and consultation, business advisory services, and assistance with the adoption of complex emerging standards. The team prepares, converts, and analyzes financial statements, supports financial close and audit readiness, and guides companies through IPO readiness programs.

Business leaders in the 21st-century corporate landscape agree that risk advisory services are essential for businesses aiming to safeguard their operations, as a case study by U.K.-based CPD Online College has confirmed. Scrubbed engages in business process reviews, establishes robust internal controls, and performs internal and SOC audits to ensure SOX compliance, provide cybersecurity services, and conduct comprehensive planning and risk assessments.

In corporate finance, Scrubbed provides services to support strategic financial decisions. These offerings include valuations, data and analytics, data visualization, mergers and acquisition support, financial modeling, financial planning and analysis, and restructuring support.

“Each segment of our service portfolio represents our commitment to delivering exceptional, tailored solutions that address the unique challenges and goals of our clients. By leveraging our expertise and service offerings, we ensure that businesses can navigate the complexities of today’s financial landscape with confidence and success,” Laguisma said.

Addressing Market Needs

Scrubbed business addresses a particular pain point in the U.S. business landscape: The dire need for accounting and financial services professionals in a scarce labor market. A Robert Half survey found that 91 percent of senior managers find recruiting skilled talent in finance and accounting challenging. To exacerbate this situation, between 2019 and 2021, over 300,000 accountants left their jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Moreover, college students are increasingly disinterested in pursuing accounting careers for reasons such as not being a STEM profession, concerns about work-life balance, and relatively lower starting salaries, as noted by the CPA Journal.

Scrubbed offers relief from this labor market pressure, providing innovative and practical bookkeeping, accounting, and tax compliance solutions and transaction advisory services through a collaborative approach to more than 1,000 customers, including a significant percentage of the top 20 accounting firms. Scrubbed serves its clients with a workforce of over 1,100 experienced professionals across accounting, audit, tax, corporate finance, risk advisory, and transaction advisory services.

“At Scrubbed, we believe in creating value through genuine collaboration. We have experts and thought leaders with experience working in a broad range of industries, including growth-minded for-profits, mission-driven non-profits, client-focused CPA [certified public accountant-led] firms, and in-demand fractional CFO [chief financial official-led] firms,” Laguisma said.

Before a business engages Scrubbed to handle its financial functions, Scrubbed takes time to learn about the business’s history, understand its business model, and clarify its goals. Based on this understanding, Scrubbed tailors the expertise and services the firm would need through a proactive and collaborative approach.

Laguisma translates his vast professional experience into every aspect of his company. “At Scrubbed, we approach our work with a deep understanding of the complexities and nuances of our field. We provide our clients with clear and concise guidance that simplifies complicated information. Our clients trust us to be their objective advisor, providing balanced and honest services powered by our readily available, responsive team to pave a smooth road to growth goals,” the chief said.

But why should a company decide to engage an external firm to handle accountancy and bookkeeping functions? What are the benefits of letting some functions out of the company’s internal operations?

“The number one benefit is instant capability and capacity boost—essential for a high-growth company. Engaging us would also mean shrinking office staff so you can save on infrastructure. You can save on human resources costs; there’s no need to hunt for talent and hire and train them. These are all costly exercises,” Laguisma said.

With an expansive global reach and a commitment to serving diverse industries, Scrubbed is among the leaders in its market across a multitude of sectors. From CPA firms to life sciences, clean tech to distribution, SaaS to marketing firms, manufacturing to non-profit organizations, and real estate to media and entertainment, Scrubbed’s expertise spans a wide spectrum. The firm offers comprehensive solutions to cater to the unique needs of each industry, reflecting a breadth of service. Scrubbed showcases an unwavering commitment to driving success and fostering growth in today’s dynamic business landscape.

“I envision our company’s evolution setting an example for upcoming leaders. I aspire for us, the business community, to treat our employees in parity in competition, compensation, and benefits, disrupting the talent market and promoting equality. I hope that goods and services provided by people outside advanced markets will be valued equally to those within, fostering a more fair and inclusive global economy,” Laguisma concludes.

Christian Keszthelyi, Senior Writer, California Business Journal

Christian is a corporate storyteller who has been a business journalist, copywriter, and communications professional for over a decade. In addition to the California Business Journal, his work appeared in the Budapest Business Journal, the THINK Magazine, The Times of Malta, The Malta Independent, and the Malta Business Weekly; and he has supported the media communications and marketing campaigns of various international brands.