Changing the Engine Mid-Flight: How Eftsure’s VP of Finance is scaling systems, culture, and investor confidence

In a high-growth fintech environment, Eftsure’s VP of Finance and Operations remains focused on building a scalable, efficient, and people-centric finance function.

His approach – which combines speed with strategic depth – offers valuable insights for finance leaders navigating the complexities of fast-growing environments.

When Arjun Adhia talks about Eftsure’s recent ERP overhaul, he doesn’t mince words.

“It felt like changing an engine mid-flight,” he says. “We were migrating nearly 3,000 subscription contracts, each with complex billing logic, all while supporting a fast-growing business.”

That image – mid-air, full-throttle, no room to stall – pretty much sums up the intensity of life inside one of Australia’s fastest-growing FinTech’s.

Eftsure, a leader in payment protection, provides real-time fraud prevention, and payment verification tools to help businesses secure their financial workflows—making precision, compliance and resilience mission-critical.

Since joining the company in 2022, Arjun has risen rapidly from Group Financial Controller to VP of Finance and Operations. His secret? A business-first mindset, a people-first leadership style, and the kind of operational focus that makes high-velocity scale sustainable.

Rebuilding the Finance Engine

When Arjun first arrived at Eftsure, much of the finance function was still outsourced. The business – backed by growth-focused investor Level Equity – was scaling fast, but its financial foundations needed strengthening.

Rather than rush in guns blazing, Arjun took a deliberate two-phased approach. First, he bridged immediate gaps in systems and controls with a keen eye for process automation. Then, he turned his attention to building durable foundations – transforming how the business budgeted, reported, and planned for growth.

The chart of accounts was revamped, month-end timelines were tightened, and visibility into unit economics was sharpened.

“When you come into an organisation, you don’t want to introduce too much change too quickly,” Arjun says. “So having a two-phased approach helped people digest the changes and also build progressively along the way.”

He adds that, “The biggest challenge was doing all of this while keeping the ship running and supporting the pace of change.”  

Scaling Smart, Not Just Fast

Once the foundation was set, Arjun focused on how Eftsure could operate more intelligently, with automation and real-time visibility at the core.

“Automation has been foundational in preparing Eftsure for rapid growth and global expansion,” he says. “It really frees up the team’s time to focus on insights over inputs—that’s where its real value is unlocked.”

Inside the new ERP system, he’s led the development of dashboards that offer a live, granular view of annual recurring revenue by customer and retention trends. Another in-progress project will tie departmental performance directly to business value drivers.

“Having that real-time view of performance helps us steer the ship while we still have the ability to influence future outcomes,” Arjun says.

That same philosophy drives everything from billing automation to live forecasting—scaling smarter, without slowing things down.

Culture by Design

While controls and systems matter, Arjun is very much a people-first leader.

“I believe that no matter how good you are as an individual, you can’t make an outsized impact unless your team is with you,” he says. “Good outcomes are driven by empowered teams. So, as a leader, I try to set clear direction for my team, to remove roadblocks for them, and to really create an environment where people feel trusted to run with challenges.”

In assembling his finance team, he prioritises curiosity, adaptability, and independent thinking over technical chops. And he consciously creates the culture he wants by instilling anchors around ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

He also champions high-frequency feedback and open communication, and makes sure all wins – big or small – get celebrated. Team-bonding activities include lunches, go-karting, bowling, and escape rooms.  

“As headcount grows, your org chart, culture and everything else in the organisation also evolve rapidly,” Arjun says. “When your team feels valued and empowered to work, they’re far more likely to stay focused, engaged and effective over the long-term.”

Operating on a Ticking Clock

Private equity backing brings speed, but also sharpens focus.

“When a PE firm invests, the clock starts ticking,” Arjun says. “You have to be exit-ready from day one.”

That means tighter controls, capital efficiency, and a laser focus on value creation. But it also means shaping a clear narrative around that value.

“There’s no point just reporting numbers back to the investors – they can read the numbers themselves,” Arjun says. “So I focus on translating them into meaningful and actionable insights.”

This involves connecting financial data to operational realities and strategic goals to ensure that stakeholders understand not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ behind the numbers.

For other finance leaders looking to make the leap into PE-backed roles, Arjun’s advice is to: “Treat the business like it’s your own. Master your numbers, and connect them to operations. Build trust and relationships across the business. And understand how your work impacts equity.”

Managing Global Complexity

As Eftsure expanded internationally, the finance team faced increasing complexity, from local compliance to multi-entity reporting.

Arjun has played a central role in making that complexity manageable. He adopted a dual-entity approach to budgeting and reporting, synced global calendars, and brought in local advisors to stay ahead of compliance requirements.

“Earlier in my career, I learned the importance of balancing precision with pragmatism,” he says. “As accountants, we all like to be precise – and that’s important. But in fast-paced environments, you often have to make decisions with limited information.”

To manage this, he developed what he describes as an agile decision-making framework: make micro-decisions based on the best available data, and be prepared to pivot as new insights emerge.

That mindset has enabled tighter integration across finance, sales, and operations, giving the business real-time visibility and the agility to act on it.

Leadership at Warp Speed

So, what words of wisdom does Arjun have for other finance leaders navigating scale?

“Executive leadership isn’t about control – it’s about ownership, influence, and clarity,” he says. “Be curious across the business. Build strong relationships. Understand the levers behind the numbers.”

And, above all, build a finance function- and a culture – that can thrive in flux.

That clarity and momentum carries over into other areas of Arjun’s life. For example, I’d set aside an hour for our conversation, and we wrapped in half the time.

“I always watch YouTube at 1.5x speed,” he laughed when I remarked on this. “There’s never enough time – you have to speed up if you want to get everything done.”

That seems to be Arjun in a nutshell: fast-moving, focused, and forward-thinking.

3 Things Every CFO Should Remember About Scaling Securely

1. Finance Still Has to Get the Basics Right
   “As glorified as strategic finance can be, there are two things that can never go wrong—invoicing your customers and paying your people.”
2. Culture Is Your Most Effective Silent Control
   “We combine digital safeguards with structural ones like segregation of duties—but embedding accountability, vigilance and ownership across the organisation is key.”
3. Don’t Wait for Issues to Arise
   “Partner early with product and IT, and take a proactive stance on risk. Prevention—the cost of doing something—is always cheaper and more effective than the cleanup after not doing it.”