Since 2019, Masterworks has been bringing art investment to the masses. In doing so, they’ve made an asset class previously reserved for billionaires accessible to everyday investors. The company securitizes artwork through public offerings—a complex, SEC-regulated process that took dedication and hard work to perfect from concept to execution.
After raising its Series A funding round in 2021, Masterworks brought their full accounting function in-house. Josh Goldberg joined as Accounting Manager in January 2022, becoming the second corporate accounting hire tasked with helping rebuild their accounting operations from the ground up.
When Goldberg arrived, he inherited a close process that produced "a lot of late nights." The previous outsourced accounting function had left behind an enduring and tedious close that was anything but streamlined.
What was evident to him was that the manual approach simply couldn’t scale. With over 3,000 bank transactions monthly requiring daily manual coding, 10 management subsidiaries, numerous investment entities, and a manual reconciliation process, it was time to change things up.
The challenges went beyond just time. Masterworks operates a unique dual accounting structure: standard corporate accounting alongside individual painting entities that don't consolidate into their main subsidiary. Each painting exists as its own limited company, creating complex technical accounting requirements that demand both precision and speed.
Masterworks implemented Numeric in late 2021. The decision came during their post-Series A growth phase when they were “looking for modern cutting edge tools that can really provide an ROI. In reflecting on the implementation period, Goldberg notes, "[Numeric] was pretty easy. It was very seamless to integrate," a stark contrast to their experience with other tools.
One of the most compelling aspects of Masterworks' Numeric journey was how the platform supported them through a major ERP migration from QuickBooks to NetSuite in January 2023—a process Goldberg describes as both stressful and daunting for any accounting team.
During this critical transition, Numeric proved its adaptability. "We were very concerned when onboarding NetSuite what these API integrations were gonna look like with other software," Goldberg explains. "Numeric was the most helpful of all of our tools that we integrated. It plugged in the easiest out of all of the tools."
What lastly set Numeric apart in the early days of the relationship was the direct access Masterworks had to Numeric’s product and engineering leadership: a perk that they’ve had since implementation and still take advantage of now. Early on, Goldberg would regularly meet with co-founder Anthony Alvernaz to view the product roadmap and discuss potential changes.
Since implementing Numeric, Masterworks’ transformation has been remarkable. Much of that can be attributed to trimming down reconciliations – Numeric removed at least 5 business days of reconciling manually.
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Numeric now serves as both a repository and analysis engine for their financial operations. The platform houses reconciled data, transaction details, and variance explanations while providing the analytical capabilities to understand what's happening in real-time.
The Masterworks Team even built a custom reconciliation engine that connects multiple data sources, dumps results into Google Sheets, and feeds into Numeric for automated variance analysis. "It's almost like having a real live dynamic pivot table with analysis that can be refreshed real time," Goldberg describes.
This automation enabled micro-adjustments and reclasses during the close without the traditional delays of manual reconciliation processes. "It gives you that visibility in a much faster and better way."
One of the most fundamental changes for Masterworks was their upgrade to a more sophisticated reporting model, thanks to Numeric.
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Goldberg describes Numeric's reporting capabilities in two key areas:
Dynamic Querying: "My favorite feature of Numeric" allows instant transaction searches across complex data sets. While ERPs like NetSuite make finding individual transactions cumbersome, Numeric provides quick, targeted searches with amount and date ranges.
Real-Time Reporting: Unlike traditional BI tools that require data migration and publishing delays, Numeric offers live sync capabilities. "What's nice about Numeric is it's kind of a real-time live sync, and it's always going," Goldberg notes. "I can quickly reference Numeric versus NetSuite to make sure our balances are correct."
The team has essentially replicated their external P&L reporting tools within Numeric, creating custom dimensions that roll up exactly how their CFO wants to see the data—advertising spend rather than generic expense categories, for example.
Beyond the time savings, Numeric has fundamentally changed how Masterworks' accounting team operates. The platform's modern interface makes onboarding new team members simple—crucial for a startup experiencing natural turnover.
"It really feels like each product within the suite was designed with a problem in mind, and that this is the solution for it," Goldberg notes, rather than trying to force-fit existing tools to their needs.
Most importantly, the efficiency gains have shifted the team's focus from tactical execution to strategic value. "You're able to spend a lot more time thinking about better ways to improve your part in the business, rather than keeping up with your part in the business."
Masterworks' journey demonstrates how tools like Numeric can support complex, regulated business models while dramatically improving operational efficiency. Their experience shows that the right platform doesn't just save time—it provides the sturdy financial infrastructure needed to scale alternative asset management operations.
"Transitioning from a spreadsheet to a tool like this is night and day on your close efficiency," Goldberg reflects. For Masterworks, that transformation has enabled them to focus on their core mission of democratizing art investment while maintaining the precise financial controls their business demands.
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NOTE: Masterworks, LLC (“Masterworks”) is a client of Numeric. Numeric (“Endorser”) does not receive cash compensation from Masterworks. See Important Masterworks Disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.
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