How Automox uses Carta to manage equity and forecast runway

Automox, an automated endpoint and security management solution provider headquartered in Austin, relies on Carta to manage its equity. Senior controller Amanda Purfurst appreciates Carta’s cap table because it provides the tools and workflows she needs to achieve her role’s objectives while making it easy to collaborate cross-organizationally. With Carta, Automox can surface actionable insights and make strategic decisions about the company's overall financial health and growth.

Role-based workflows streamline collaboration

Amanda oversees Automox’s general ledger, so Carta is instrumental to her ongoing responsibilities. She collaborates with the organization’s human resources department, which enters equity information into Carta, and then works with inputs to ensure Automox’s financials are accurate and aligned with company goals.

“It’s really important for me to understand significant swings in expenses, including new grants and changes in headcounts and how that relates to what we expect financially,” says Amanda. 

She looks to Carta for quick understanding, pulling information into reports and translating it into financial narratives that inform Automox’s chief financial officer. 

“Part of my role is to act as a bridge between what is correct from an accounting perspective and the story we work from internally,” says Amanda. “In many ways, controllers tend to operate with a high degree of autonomy, so the CFO has to place inherent trust in the controller. That, in turn, requires having reliable accounting systems. Carta delivers that and helps me strengthen trust with our CFO.”

High data integrity accelerates operations

Carta enables trust at Automox because the cap table is centralized and automatically updated in real time. Reports don’t require additional validation or workarounds. As a result, Amanda can focus on analysis and insight.

“Everything is on one platform, which is really nice. I don’t have to worry about information being manipulated or misinterpreted, because data integrity is built into how the system operates,” says Amanda.

Reliability supports efficiency for Automox. Amanda likes that Carta standardizes workflows so that she can get through common tasks without unnecessary challenges.

“For some of my objectives, I need to do rinse-and-repeat jobs that let me focus on my core work,” says Amanda. “Carta scales with my needs. The ease of use helps me do my job faster.”

Equity intelligence provides CFO-level insights

Once Amanda creates a snapshot of Automox’s current and potential performance, she delivers information to the company’s CFO for further consideration. 

“I leverage Carta to understand trends and valuation and how that shifts future costs and other forecasting,” says Amanda. “Then, I can walk through it with our CFO, exploring different paths for the business.”

These conversations propel Automox forward, allowing leadership to understand more about how equity impacts cash management and long-term decisions.

“Our CFO is really focused on runway, and you might think Carta can’t necessarily give you that cash perspective—until you talk about volatility in the market, understanding trends, and forecasting when equity-related expenses come to fruition,” says Amanda. “It’s an important dotted line, and I would say that CFOs can really look to Carta to understand that bigger picture.”