One of the most crucial activities, business finance management, if done efficiently, immensely contributes to the growth of a business. Incorrect financial inputs on
quantities, costs, margins, inventory, cash flows etc. can adversely influence a
company’s market share, access to the capital and eventually the profitability of the
business. Hence, a company must have skilled and experienced business finance
management executives, who can proficiently keep a track of all its finances and
prepare error-free financial statements, which are a reliable source of information for
investors, creditors, lenders, and other stakeholders. Besides, strategic financial
planning helps businesses to ensure their expediency and the right allocation of funds
by providing a clear idea of what they are currently doing and where they are headed
towards. Imperative for any type of business, appropriate finance management helps
entrepreneurs to decipher the growth opportunities and threats, and take expansion
decisions accordingly. But, for small businesses or start-ups, which are often tight on
budget, hiring in-house finance executives and CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) generally
turns out to be expensive. Hence, many small to medium-sized companies and start-ups
prefer to outsource their finance-related activities to third-party finance management
agencies or an individual external finance expert, commonly known as ‘outsourced CFO’, with high experience level and qualification, rather than hiring a full-time in-house CFO. But, how to understand when is the right time to get an outsourced CFO?
4 Signs a business requires an outsourced CFO:
It is unable to record accurate financial data on time. A business generally has multiple
bills to pay. Hence, in-house finance executives or start-ups or small business owners
with inadequate experience in finance management often make mistakes while
recording copious finance data. As inaccurate data doesn’t give a clear idea of the
current financial condition of a business, entrepreneurs usually find it difficult to make
any emergency purchase decision, even if they need to urgently buy new equipment. This is because they cannot figure out how the sudden capital outlay might affect the
coming month’s cash flow. An outsourced CFO makes sure the recorded data is accurate
and the financial statements are provided on time. As a result, the outsourcers can
make confident financial decisions, without being worried about cash flow issues. It is facing cash flow issues. In the case of start-ups and small businesses, generally, the
owners manage to create cash flow projections and budgets single handedly, in the
initial phase. But, as a business grows and the supply chain gets erratic, various
unanticipated variables often pop up and put the company in financial turmoil. The
rapid growth of a company signifies that it is experiencing high demand for its products
or services. But this increased demand often leads to operational inefficiency, which
requires a huge amount to get fixed. As a result, the company faces a cash flow crunch
to meet the growing market demand. An outsourced CFO, due to its expertise in finance
management, can effortlessly tackle such a situation by keeping a track of the cash
inflow and outflow of the business. This allows the outsourcer to efficiently handle the
growth phase without worrying about cash flow issues. It is unable to integrate financial inputs with the business plan. Financial data
immensely help business owners to understand their current financial situations and
accurately forecast their growth in the coming years. Hence, it is quite crucial for
strategic business plans to include metrics and definitive financial data to precisely
explain the vision of the company. As business strategies are often about calculated
resource allocation, financial inputs are imperative. Hence, companies, especially start- ups, which do not have ample funds to hire an experienced and highly-qualified in- house finance manager, get an outsourced CFO, who can provide them with all the
necessary metrics. It does not have enough funds to update its outdated accounting practices. With the
rapid advancement of technology, accounting practices are also getting amended. The
advent of cloud-based accounting makes sure the one using it is compliant with all the
legal and industry requirements. However, switching to the latest accounting practice
and buying software often turns out to be expensive for small companies. But
outsourced CFOs are often equipped with cutting-edge software and updated on the
latest accounting practice.