When we start a small business or begin working for ourselves, finances and specifically accounting is not usually high on the to-do list. Our focus is wholeheartedly towards generating revenue through creating value for customers, and generating profit to be reinvested. You might have a bookkeeper to manage the day to day, and an accountant to take care of the year end and compliance. However, at some point, your business will require more than the day-to-day and year-end procedures.  

What about business strategy and growth? How do we take your business from a one person show to profitable empire?

 

What is an Outsourced CFO?

A CFO or chief financial officer takes on the financial responsibility and financial direction for the organization. A CFO will typically rely on inputs from bookkeeping, financial reporting, and tax departments to generate business performance reports, forecast for the future of the business and manage cash flow.   

In smaller businesses a CFO’s role might be more comprehensive encompassing all aspects of financial reporting, strategy, day-to-day operations, and compliance.

 

Why should I hire an outsourced CFO?

Let us first consider your role in your small business. How do you introduce yourself? CEO? Founder? What is your primary responsibility? As the highest-ranking individual in the company your role is making corporate decisions and effectively managing the overall organization and resources of the company.

To make decisions effectively you will need to have a thorough understanding of your business operations and your projected performance. This is the role that A CFO will fill, your CFO will keep you informed on:

  1. Financial Performance: A CFO will keep you informed on your business performance including revenue generation, expenses management and assist in locating opportunities or gaps in your business.
  2. Financial Strategy & Forecasting: A CFO will assist in planning for the growth and expansion of your business. Including defining a financial strategy and direction.
  3. Compliance: A CFO will ensure every “i” is dotted and “t” is crossed when it comes to dealing with sales tax, income tax and payroll reporting.
  4. Cash Flow: A CFO will manage and plan for cash flow in your organization.

 

When should I hire an outsourced CFO?

If you are already outsourcing bookkeeping and/or accounting tasks and are still seeing a gap when it comes to financial strategy, then combining these roles under one umbrella can be an excellent and even a cost-effective solution.

Having a CFO on your team comes down to having confidence in your business financials and in building a strong future for your company. In large fortune 500 companies the CEO will work extremely closely with the CFO. A CEO has a comprehensive view of the entire company, marketing, customer, and human resources while CFO is responsible for analyzing financial data, preparing budgets, and monitoring expenses and costs.

Clear Margin Consulting work hard to fill all the gaps in your small business finances, as your acting CFO we manage bookkeeping, accounting, compliance, tax, financial strategy, forecasting and reporting to bring you a comprehensive level of support, confidence, and business insight.

Looking for a Vancouver based Outsourced CFO? Contact us here.