The CFO of London-listed enterprise software provider Aptitude will step down as the company restructures it strategy. 

Mike Johns, who has been with Aptitude for more than seven years, will resign as its finance chief and board member after the release of its upcoming full year results for 2024. 

Aptitude said the decision was made to support its strategic shift, which includes the creation of a smaller senior management team with increased travel requirements and expanded spans of control. 

The 36-year-old joined Aptitude in 2017 as group financial controller, eventually being named CFO in 2023. Before his time at the software company, Johns held various finance positions, including as an audit supervisor at RSM UK. 

The announcement came alongside a trading update for the year ended December 2024, in which Aptitude reported a 12% bump in its autonomous finance subscription platform’s ARR, reaching £17.1m. 

Though overall revenue was down around 6% from the 2023 turnover of £74.7m, the group said this was in line with its shift towards partner-led sales, which includes deals with Microsoft, HSO and an unnamed ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm. 

The proportion of recurring revenue for the period grew from 74% to 78%. 

The company holds £30.4m on its balance sheet which has allowed it to fund dividends and share buybacks in 2024. 

The full results for the year ended December 2024 are expected to be released in March. 

Shares in Aptitude rose 7% to 341.75p. The firm’s stock has risen by around a fifth since the start of the year. 

Founded in 1981 as Microgen Financial Systems, Aptitude Software was spun out in 2014. 

The City-based software group provides financial management software to businesses, with an increasing focus on automation through products like its data and accounting platform Fynapse. 

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