Biopharmaceutical company implements robust accounting solution

Client background

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a publicly traded, clinical stage, biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from drug-resistant seizures and neuropsychiatric disorders. With more than $20 million in annual development expenses, the increasing demands of a public company and the expectation for continued growth, Marinus needed to put in place a more robust accounting solution.

The business challenge

Like so many companies, Marinus chose to use QuickBooks at the outset. But as Marinus expanded operations, it found that QuickBooks did not meet its needs for internal controls, management reporting and external reporting:

• Journal entries could easily be overridden
• The chart of account structure required to track their expenses by department and project was cumbersome
• The financial reporting and budgeting capabilities were very limited and led to time-consuming, manual manipulation outside the application

Marinus needed an accounting solution that would tackle these concerns and also provide controlled access to real-time information to internal and external stakeholders alike.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly's specialists solved all the issues above and delivered a user-friendly interface that everyone in the organization, even those outside the accounting function, found easy and intuitive. Just as importantly, their new solution provided a secure environment with automated workflow that delivered better control over transaction processing and approvals, in a way that is easily audited.

Marinus has already experienced tangible benefits:

• Faster period closing
• More meaningful financial reports
• Better control and management of vendors (e.g., CROs)
• Higher satisfaction of internal users
• More efficient preparation of external reports

As a pre-revenue biotech, while Marinus needed a solution to manage expenses more effectively and to provide robust reporting, it also wanted to implement an accounting solution that could scale to meet its evolving needs. Marinus has already benefitted by having Baker Tilly implement employee expense management and integrating with a payroll solution from EmployeeMax.

In the future, Marinus is considering implementing an Inventory module. Ultimately, once Marinus starts to sell its products, it will also use Sage Intacct for revenue and accounts receivable management. In the meantime, Marinus continues to use Baker Tilly for ongoing support and consultation. As Mike McNamara noted, “the relationship does not end with the implementation.”