CFO services: when your business needs a finance expert (and how Visory can help)

As your business graduates from a small operation to an organisation with a full back-office, you’ll need to hire new financial experts. Growing your business requires careful planning and forecasting. But, what if you’re not quite ready to pay the salary of a Chief Financial Officer (CFO)? That’s where virtual CFO services come in handy.

A part-time, remote CFO leads your team onward and upward without eating up your back-office budget. A virtual CFO can also help you prepare the numbers a potential buyer will want to see if you plan to sell. Here is when you might need CFO-level support, and how Visory can help. For the warning signs in your own numbers, see our guide to the seven signs it is time to hire a virtual CFO.

What is a CFO and what do they do?

In larger businesses, the CFO leads the finance function. The role goes beyond daily accounting duties. While your bookkeeper or finance team is running payroll and keeping the general ledger in line, your CFO is taking a bird’s eye view of your organisation.

Your CFO may handle business strategy, budget modelling, and reports for stakeholders. A Chief Financial Officer also takes on the tasks of advising executive boards, managing cash flow, and forecasting the revenue of the product pipeline. In other words, a CFO is responsible for big picture financial decisions and projections. The best CFOs can spot a financial windfall possibility and also catch an upcoming revenue fall before it happens.

How CFO services can help your business

CFO services can do what a day-to-day bookkeeper may not have the time or remit to do: look after the overall financial health of your organisation and help plan for the future.

It’s also worth noting that company directors in Australia have a duty of care and diligence under both general law and the Corporations Act 2001, and that duty extends to other officers of the company, which can include a CFO. Directors stay responsible for the company’s finances whoever does the work, so you want an experienced person supporting them.

Here are some ways adding a virtual CFO service to your business can help push your business to the next level.

• Expert reporting. Some companies, such as large proprietary companies, must lodge annual financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and directors must declare whether there are reasonable grounds to believe the company can pay its debts. That declaration is the directors’ to make. A CFO with a close knowledge of your company’s finances and a culture of accurate financial reporting gives them the information to make it with confidence.
• Internal management. Other financial team members, including accountants, often fall under the leadership of the CFO. Having this position filled means other executive members can free up their time instead of tracking the moves of the finance department.
• Strategic advice. An experienced CFO knows how to grow the financial health of a company. You have a senior finance adviser on hand. Your CFO will make sense of financial information and use your books to define business goals, opportunities, growth rate.
• Capital management. When you need to raise capital or borrow, a CFO helps you prepare the forecasts and financial information that investors and lenders expect, and present a clear, accurate financial picture.

Advantages of outsourcing a CFO

When you want to scale your business fast, virtual CFO services are a cost-effective solution. You won’t have to budget for a competitive full-time CFO salary (and super) to access the expert strategy a CFO can offer.

At Visory, monthly management insights come through Visory Insights, which is available with Visory bookkeeping. A dedicated Business Performance Partner walks you through a plain-English monthly read of your numbers covering margin, trends, cash and runway, and the one next move, built on books that Visory’s team already keeps current. Visory does not offer a standalone virtual CFO service. Capital raising, transactions and executive financial leadership may require a separately engaged CFO or specialist; choose that support according to the decision you need to make.

Financial growth is challenging in the best of conditions. A CFO can help you work through the bumps in the road and offer their experience. A part-time or virtual arrangement will not suit every business: if you need someone in-house to lead a finance team, run a major capital raise or prepare for a listing, a full-time CFO may be the right step. An outsourced CFO becomes a member of your financial team without the cost of a full-time salary, which can be music to the ears of small-to-medium size businesses. For businesses on the road to becoming much larger companies, CFO-level support can arrive well before a full-time hire makes sense. Book a discovery call to talk through what level of support fits your business.