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Scaling your business is an exciting endeavor, but it comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to managing finances. As your company expands, the need for strategic financial guidance becomes crucial. Enter the Virtual CFO — a key player in the art of scaling your business successfully. In this blog post, we'll explore the role of a Virtual CFO and how their expertise can propel your business to new heights.

In the dynamic realm of tech startups, where innovation and agility are key, the role of a Growth CFO has never been more crucial. Often considered the financial architect of success, a Growth CFO goes beyond traditional financial management, playing a pivotal role in steering the company towards sustainable growth.

Could your business benefit from outsourced CFO services? Here are 10 reasons why it may be time to engage a part-time CFO.

Businesses choose to engage a Virtual CFO for a multitude of reasons. Among some of the most common of these are to achieve better cash flow management, strategy and direction, leadership, productivity, financial reporting or analysis, informed decision making and diversified access to resources.

It is tempting for a business to look to hire an accounting all-rounder, who can manage an assortment of financial tasks, such as, taxation, compliance, reporting, accounting, and business strategy. However finding an accountant who can manage all aspects of the financial mix is both rare and expensive. What is the difference between a CFO and an accountant, and how will adding a CFO Service help.

Over the past two years, many industries were financially impacted by Covid-19, in ways nobody could possibly have predicted. However, as in the last financial crisis in 2007-08, the best performing companies looked to improve productivity, which provided the capacity to grow quickly once into the recovery period.

There is no doubt that hiring a full time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) makes complete sense when a business reaches a certain size or an advanced level of complexity in structure. There is also no question that a CFO occupies a crucial role in growing a business’ profitability, especially in the longer term. The decision facing business owners, is when is the right time to bring on a full-time CFO or whether there are benefits to having a part-time or outsourced CFO until a full-time CFO role stacks up financially.

Most small to medium sized businesses (SMB's), whatever their business sector or the types of products they produce, or services they offer, face the same challenge at some point in their lifecycle. They all need help with their financial reporting. Entrepreneurs who start businesses are fantastic at identifying opportunities and the need for new products and services and can talk for hours about what they are working on and the opportunities they have identified. However, when faced with financial reporting and compliance, they are often uninterested and lack understanding.

Over the past two years, many industries have been financially impacted by the Covid-19, in ways nobody could possibly have predicted. However, as in the last financial crisis in 2007-08, the best performing companies looked to improve productivity, which provided the capacity to grow quickly once into the recovery period.

The reason why a business should have an outsourced CFO is that they offer ‘strategic financial insight and manoeuvring that leads to increased revenue, without the need to pay a full-time CFO salary.’ 

There are very few business owners who wouldn’t welcome expert financial advice and financial help if it was available, as good financial advice and financial management are keys to success for any business, small or large.

Numerous small to medium sized businesses (SMB) have outsourced their CFO function to a CFO Service company and for a number of good reasons: The costs of a full time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) are often prohibitive for a small or medium sized company. It is virtually impossible to find a part time CFO, often because experienced CFO’s who want to work part time are working for CFO Service companies and not available for smaller organisations.

A CFO can make a huge difference in the way a business grows and how it operates on a day-to-day basis, as well as having a dramatic impact on the financial strategy, including forward planning, capital raising, borrowing, financial and tax planning, compliance, and business owner exit. It is hard to disagree a chief financial officer or CFO services don’t add significantly to a business.

Outsourcing CFO services will give companies all the benefits of having a highly skilled and experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on their team, but at a much-reduced cost.

SME’s can get caught up in the excitement an acquisition opportunity presents, but often the process can be time consuming, a drain on resources and very costly if you don’t manage the process properly up front.

Effectively managed accounting teams invariably make a significant difference to the general performance of a business. With integrity of the accounting function comes reliable and timely financial and management information.

Today’s top executives make hundreds of decisions each day. We marvel at the amount of decisions a Finance Executive and especially Virtual CFOs that act for more than one organisation has to make on a daily basis. Couple the professional decisions with family, friends, health and other life commitments and it begins to add up!

Organisations normally engage in developing a robust CFO Profile when they need to recruit, however conducting the same process within your organisation when recruitment is not the focus can have great benefits for aligning business strategy with the individual and team.

A functional Board contributes to the overall productivity of the organisation and staff often look to the Board of Directors for guidance, regulations, support, and the tools and resources to do the work that is expected of them. When a Board is lax or negligent, or does not take care of tasks and responsibilities, it doesn’t take long before staff and the daily operations of the organisation are affected.

Ever been given feedback that you disagree with? What was your response? If you are like most, then your response was probably along the lines of: Anger; “Where does he/she get off telling me that.” Denial; “That’s not how it happened.” Deflection; “He/she should concentrate on their own problems.” Righteousness; “What would he/she know? I know more about this than them.”

I have always been amazed when I hear CFOs and their teams working well into the night to fulfil their month end obligations. Journals, rework, analysis, reporting until the late hours of the evening, month after month, year after year.

There is a common misconception out there that a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a role only available to the large corporate. However, if you continue to hold this view you could be doing your business a critical injustice. Having the commercial guidance that a CFO can provide to get your business from where you are now to where you want to be is one of the best investments a business owner can make.