The founder and former CEO of Square Penny, Scodella is now the Melbourne finance company’s head of business development.

With extensive experience in the corporate world, Scodella established Square Penny back in 2008, after identifying a gap in the market.

“I was finding that a number of friends were having trouble finding good people to support them with their finances,” he said.

“I started to consider my point of difference and how I could help.”

Square Penny’s mission is to simplify financial management and provide quality information that empowers business owners to make informed decisions and realise their goals.

As well as managing books, Square Penny provides financial management services, professional business advice and tailored financial analysis.

The idea is to free up the business owners’ time, allowing them to focus on growing and expanding their business.

The Square Penny team places a large emphasis on fostering powerful, genuine relationships to understand clients’ needs from the most authentic level possible.

Since its foundation, the business has grown to employ 31 staff, most of whom are women.

The gender ratio in favour of females is no coincidence.

“Back when we originally started, I believed that there was an untapped resource: the return-to-work mum coming from maternity leave,” Scodella explained.

“I wanted to provide these women a working environment where their employer understood the definition of flexibility and that family comes first.

“Over time, it evolved into providing opportunities for working mums who were doing 40 hours a week, with no balance between family and work.

“There are so many working mums who can’t find part-time work that complements their home lives but also continues to stimulate them from a professional perspective.” 

In order to strike this balance, Square Penny employees are given a sense of agency and autonomy, structuring their working week around their clients’ needs and their family lives.

The word “micromanagement” doesn’t exist in Scodella’s vocabulary.

“When I’m managing staff, I give away trust, honesty and responsibility for free and upfront,” he said.

“They manage their own time and their own structure within the guidelines of making sure the client’s happy.

“That’s my general ethos and it’s been with me forever and a day.”

Scodella’s philosophy has proven highly successful in shaping a tight-knit team of productive and proficient employees.

“If you give people trust and responsibility, they’re going to be efficient and deliver for you,” he said.

Square Penny offers an outsourced finance department for business owners who don’t have the time or knowledge to manage financial affairs themselves, but also don’t want to hire internally.

The team work with clients both on-site and remotely, helping with day-to-day tasks and analysing business’ financial health to allow them to grow and save money.

“We interact with clients on a regular basis, at least once a week but possibly more depending on their needs,” Scodella said.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented Square Penny staff from working with companies on-site in recent months, the focus on strengthening relationships with clients is as strong as ever.

Square Penny also provides regular vlogs on its website, with the aim of educating the community on all things finance for free.

“If people believe that there’s value in our free resources, they’ll want to come and work with us,” Scodella explained.

“They can see that they’re not being sold to and that we genuinely to want to help people.”

“If you continue to do the right things, good things will come back to you.

“It might be a few years down the track or over the journey of a business’ lifetime, but it does come back to you.”

As the head of business development, Scodella is passionate about connecting with others and finding opportunities in authentic relationships.

He is a co-facilitator at Fresh Networks and a chairperson for Accounting Discussion Group, as well as a member of the Italian-Australian Leaders of Tomorrow (ALTO).

“For me, networking is really about expanding Square Penny’s horizons and trying to touch as many people as possible; at some point, all of these people will have a problem that we can solve,” he said.

“The lifeblood of any businessperson is identifying people and groups that are complementary to what they do.

“My philosophy is if you want something, you need to go out and get it, while operating with integrity, honesty and respect.”

With Sicilian blood running through his veins, Scodella’s decision to join ALTO was inspired by both his business and his heritage.

“I like that ALTO brings the tradition of food and drink that’s synonymous with Italian culture into business,” he said.

“The functions are always sleek and professional; it’s a professional outfit with an Italian twist that allows me to surround myself with similar-minded people.”

Whether it is at an ALTO event or one of the many other networking events Scodella attends, he is hard to miss: you will find him donning his trademark Square Penny jacket that reflects both his passion for what he does and his charismatic personality.