Ecotourism Australia operates as the national peak body for sustainable tourism, working with hundreds of operators across the country through eco certification and industry support.
Their work sits across multiple products, membership tiers, and renewal cycles, alongside board reporting, funding, and governance requirements. Financial management plays a central role in how the organisation operates and plans.
“Financial management is the core of any good business… being able to rely on good data in terms of figures and forecasts is crucial for us in terms of cash flow, but also our budgeting moving forward.”
As sustainability became more central across the industry, demand increased.
“Because sustainability is becoming more and more the norm, we’ve been very busy the last few years… our systems had to keep up with that change.”
What follows is a conversation with Nadine Schramm, Head of Sustainability Assurance and Operations, on how that growth exposed limitations in their financial setup, and what changed when those systems were restructured with Kirbyko.
Where the pressure first showed up: Nadine describes how growth exposed the limitations in their systems, and how that became visible in day-to-day operations.
How the issue is framed internally: the shift from seeing it as an administrative problem to recognising it as a structural one.
What actually changed: how introducing ownership and structure altered how finance operates, and how that shows up in decision-making today.
Where Things Started: Manual, Reactive, and Difficult to Maintain
Nadine describes a setup that relied heavily on manual processes and disconnected systems.
“A few years ago… it was very manual and reactive… everything was pretty much manual and disconnected.”
“We didn’t have a single source of truth… we were relying on manual data entry.”
The structure required ongoing input from the team to keep things functioning.
“There were delays… a lot of miscommunication and duplication… it was very admin heavy.”
In practice, this meant financial information existed, but assembling a clear and reliable view required effort. As activity increased, that effort increased alongside it.
When Growth Exposed the Gap
As the organisation expanded its offering and customer base, the limitations became more visible.
“Our customer base grew very, very quickly and our systems weren’t able to keep up.”
The issue extended beyond process inefficiency. It affected how the organisation could plan and make decisions.
“Our finance system wasn’t scalable… in order to continue that growth, we had to do a complete turnaround.”
Nadine summarises the issue clearly:
“It wasn’t just an admin gap - it was a structural gap in our finance system and how we were set up.”
What Changed: Ownership and Structure
The shift involved restructuring how finance operates across the organisation.
“Jack really took ownership of the entire financial function for us… we now have a single contact point and someone who understands all of our products and systems.”
This introduced continuity across systems, processes, and reporting.
“What changed most is the clarity that we now have. We have structure, we have rhythm… everything became a lot more proactive instead of reactive.”
Financial data became connected and usable without requiring manual assembly.
The Impact: Clearer Visibility and More Confident Decisions
With improved structure came a clearer understanding of the organisation’s financial position.
“We can make decisions confidently knowing that we can trust the numbers and the data.”
This confidence supports forecasting, budgeting, and ongoing decision-making, particularly where timing and cash flow are involved. At the same time, the internal burden is reduced.
“I see a lot less of my team talking about accounts and issues… it’s not brought up too much with issues as it was before.”
“They can go back to the work they’re supposed to do rather than focusing on too much admin.”
A Finance Function Aligned with How Your Organisation Operates
For Eco Tourism Australia, the change was reflected in how finance supports the organisation day-to-day.
“We wouldn’t be where we are now without having made that change.”
The structure now aligns with how the organisation runs, providing consistent visibility and supporting decision-making as the organisation continues to grow.
Kirbyko exists to support the exact moment where businesses outgrow basic bookkeeping and ad-hoc processes. We partner with founders, owners, and CEO's who want clarity, structure, and consistency - not more spreadsheets or more people to manage. Our team becomes your entire outsourced finance function, managing everything from workflows and approvals to reporting, systems, and financial coordination.
If you’re ready to move away from reactive problem-solving and towards stable, scalable financial operations, we can help you build the structure your business needs to grow confidently.
