Over the past few years I have met with a lot of business owners who were very confident in the financial performance of their companies, only to eventually realize that there were many gaps. Typically, facing a cash crunch, going through a major restructuring or growth that was proving more difficult to handle than planned (or not planned adequately).
Surprisingly many of these owners ended up spending a lot of time and money to address their concerns with very little results.
The solution that they were missing? A virtual, contract or part-time CFO.
A virtual/contract CFO is a part-time CFO that only works for your business when and if you need them. That means someone with the right expertise, experience and ability to execute and help drive the performance of the company at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full time CFO, Controller or a mix of temporary/project junior employees (who simply do not get the results quickly).
A lot of owners either do not invest properly to make positive change in their business or throw away good money only to find out that they were off course.
A Virtual CFO can get you back on course. They can help you:
- Improve cash flow and obtain financing
- Make informed decisions by ensuring your financial and operational reporting is relevant and timely
- Help identify your businesses key performance indicators, how to measure them and how to analyze them
- Select and set up your financial reporting management system
- Ensure you have the right team on board (skillset, people, reporting structure)
- Be that sounding board on strategic planning, acquisitions and divestitures
- Round out your Management team
Why is a Virtual/Contract CFO the solution to a very expensive problem? Because I have witnessed first-hand the transformation our clients have gone through and the savings they have realized in doing so.
This week I was working with a client who three years ago was contemplating bankruptcy. Today their profit is in the seven digits. It took a lot of patience, negotiating, alternative financing, coaching, restructuring, skillset management, etc. These are all things a Virtual/Contract CFO can bring to the table while keeping the budget in check.