A sound financial strategy is critical to a business that wants to positively impact productivity and finances. Often, the role of devising such a plan falls on the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Their broad commercial experience and accounting acumen helps with:
- Identifying products and services which are most profitable;
- Pinpointing products and services’ seasonality, and
- Recognising if there’s an over-reliance on any specific product or service (or customer)
With the current climate, however, it seems counterintuitive (read: costly!) for a small or medium business to create an executive-level position for this.
Fortunately, business owners have options when it comes to reaping the benefits of a CFO’s skills at a fraction of the price: They can consider getting part-time Chief Financial Officer and Virtual CFO services.
We’ve listed below how these services could potentially add value to the financial success of your business. Which ones do your company need?
Operations and Controllership
A Chief Financial Officer is very much involved in the financial side of the business’ day-to-day operations. You don’t need a CFO present all the time to be able to monitor things, however. A skilled and capable part-time or virtual CFO can still make sure that:
Business Support
- Data reported is an accurate and timely representation of the company’s status
- Internal company systems are operating at optimal capacity
- Profit margins are maximised by implementing process improvements
- The company’s cash flows, cash balance and working capital are managed properly
Using historical data and by assessing potential risks, a virtual Chief Financial Officer can create the best support system for the business’ operations to continue working effectively. Specifically, they:
- Handle compliance reporting, tax planning and dealing with legal issues
- Find and manage outsourcing partners to ease the company’s non-core workload
- Start and maintain the business’ banking relationship to assist with raising funds or obtaining loans from banks and other financial institutions
Strategy and Forecasting
A CFO shines brightest when it comes to planning a better financial future for the company. This is true whether they are a full-time employee or a virtual CFO providing services for your company on-demand. Such activities include:
- Exit planning to maximise the value of a company in a mergers and acquisition transaction in case an entrepreneur decides to exit from the organisation
- Conducting risk assessment tests to identify, understand and evaluate potential workplace hazards and implementing measures to control or eliminate the risks
- Creating and overseeing the implementation timetable to keep projects on track and use the data as an evaluation tool
- Devising strategic funding plans to maximise the company’s use of financing options to meet overarching goals and business objectives
Gain All the Benefits — at a Fraction of the Cost of Employing a Full-Time CFO
The skills of a Chief Financial Officer are highly valued and sought-after, but not every business can spare the expense of hiring a top-level executive. Fortunately, small and medium businesses can still reap the benefits by outsourcing the need to a part-time or virtual CFO services provider.
Your Finance Department provides bookkeeping, accounting and Chief Financial Officer solutions to business in Australia. You can customise the specific services you get based on your goals and only pay for the time rendered for them.
Call us today to learn more.
