Company Overview
About Certinia
Certinia (formerly FinancialForce) is a cloud ERP and professional services automation (PSA) platform built natively on Salesforce, enabling services-centric businesses to manage financials, project delivery, workforce planning, and customer success in a single unified system. Founded in 2009 as FinancialForce by Salesforce Ventures and Unit4, the company rebranded to Certinia in 2023 to signal its broader platform vision beyond finance. Headquartered in San Francisco and serving over 1,400 customers globally, Certinia targets professional services firms, consulting practices, and technology companies that run their entire business on Salesforce CRM.
Business Model & Competitive Advantage
Certinia's competitive differentiation comes from its deep Salesforce-native architecture — all customer data, revenue recognition, project financials, and workforce records exist in a single Salesforce platform, eliminating the data synchronization challenges that plague companies using disconnected ERP systems. The platform covers accounts receivable, revenue recognition (ASC 606/IFRS 15 compliant), project costing, resource management, and billing — all linked directly to Salesforce opportunities and contracts.
Competitive Landscape 2025–2026
In 2025, Certinia has expanded its AI capabilities with embedded analytics and forecasting tools that leverage Salesforce Einstein AI for revenue prediction and resource utilization optimization. The company competes with Sage Intacct, NetSuite, and standalone PSA tools like Kantata for services ERP share. Certinia's 2025 strategy emphasizes expanding its platform from financial management into full services lifecycle management, positioning as the end-to-end operating system for services businesses running on Salesforce infrastructure.
Company Timeline
Major milestones in Certinia's journey
Leadership Team
Meet the leaders behind Certinia
DJ Paoni
DJ Paoni was appointed CEO of Certinia in October 2023, bringing more than 25 years of enterprise software experience from SAP, where he served as President of SAP North America overseeing 25,000+ employees and 200,000 customer relationships. He holds a BA in Speech Communications from University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
Robert Cesafsky
Robert Cesafsky joined Certinia as COO in October 2023, bringing two decades of expertise in high-growth enterprise software businesses. Previously, he served as COO and CFO at AutoAlert and VP of Finance at Vertafore, with extensive experience in managing finance, legal, and IT operations for software companies backed by private equity.
John Tully
John Tully was appointed CRO in November 2023, bringing 25+ years of sales leadership experience. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Sales at SAP, and holds deep expertise in scaling revenue and managing customer relationships across large enterprise software organizations.
Todd Kisaberth
Todd Kisaberth, appointed CCO in February 2022, has 20+ years of executive leadership in global B2B technology companies. Previously CCO at Plex Systems and head of customer operations at Tenable (pre-IPO), he brings deep expertise in customer success, support, professional services, and customer renewal management.
Erin Sawyer
Erin Sawyer was appointed CFO in November 2023, bringing over 20 years of financial and operational experience with a strong software industry background. Previously served as CFO of Wowza and Deputy CFO at Vertafore, providing financial leadership for growth-stage software companies.
Kris Kildahl
Kris Kildahl serves as Chief People Officer at Certinia, leading the company's people strategy and human resources initiatives, with a focus on building a culture of inclusion and employee engagement across the organization.
Deb Ashton
Deb Ashton co-founded FinancialForce in 2009 and has scaled the company from 27 employees to approximately 850 global employees serving 1,400+ customers. She continues to lead the company's strategic customer experience and operations, focusing on customer success and organizational growth.
Open Positions
Reddit Discussions
Key Differentiators
Market Leader
Certinia is recognized as a market leader in the Professional Services sector, demonstrating strong industry presence and customer trust.
Top 3 Ranked
Ranked #1 in the Professional Services category, consistently recognized for excellence.
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