There comes a time in every CFOs tenure when they need to access expertise that they may not necessarily have in-house. This generally happens in one of three scenarios:
High growth – When a company’s growth starts to head northwards of 30% over a prolonged period of time, although great, it can start to have adverse effects on the finance team. As growth increases, so does the workload, variability of tasks, and complexity of challenges. What does not increase is time, and working longer, more difficult hours – without the right support – will lead to mistakes and burnout.
Stagnation – Conversely, a low growth environment might mean there are leakages and blockages in the finance function that are hindering the business from building momentum. An external set of skilled eyes can help identify and alleviate these pain points.
Special projects – During the year there are sprint periods which increase the pressure on the finance team. Yes, pressure makes diamonds, but it also can burst pipes. In circumstances such as these, many hands make light work – especially if these hands are adept at navigating complicated situations, tasks and environments.
Aside from the above situations which are more company specific, there could be a number of other factors which are more nuanced in nature and holding the business back. These scenarios negatively affect the most important resource of all, its people.
- Inability to hire quickly enough, usually as a result of high growth
- Difficulty in finding the right talent, with the right skill set
- Employee churn as a result of burnout
- Industry-specific challenges requiring specialized knowledge
- Dated or lack of the correct system and integration
- Poor information flow through the organization
As CFO at the head of finance, you are responsible for the delivery of the financial function priorities of the company. Your tasks are the most complex, and your demand the highest. It’s also likely that key operations matters often require your input, making your time a highly scarce resource, leaving you often overstretched.
Having to oversee everyday administrative work draws your attention away from vital higher-order financial functions such direction of the company’s financial forecasting and projections – the cornerstone for sustainable growth.
We’ll walk you through some of the common hurdles (among others) faced by the companies, then show you how the Outsourced CFO team can ease the burden, support your team, and boost capacity and expertise.
1. Month-end close support
Month-ends can be chaotic and challenging as a lot of procedures need to be executed in a short amount of time. The board wants to see the numbers. Our seasoned accountants help alleviate the pressure on internal accounting teams around monthly and quarterly reporting, bolstering your team’s execution ability to get over the finish line. Here are some of the ways we can assist:
– Processing of large volumes of transactions
– Bank reconciliations and tie-ups
– Supplier reconciliations
– Balancing Inter-group transactions
– Management account preparation
– Implementation of standard operating procedures
2. Audit services
Getting through an external audit is a big project. It requires a large amount of finance team bandwidth to help prepare for, work on, and finalize with your auditors. Many businesses find themselves in the catch 22 of having to conclude last year’s audit without allowing the focus to slip on this year’s accounting and reporting priorities. This often leaves finance teams feeling overwhelmed.
Plug in our accounting and audit experts to help with the heavy lifting involved with the audit process, preparation of audit packs, answering the multitudes of audit queries alongside all the other tasks required to finalize and complete the audit.
3. Financial planning and analysis support
Budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, performance reporting… big responsibilities and a lot of pressure. Your FP&A team has a lot on their plate and their ability to keep up with the game and produce quality insight to executives has a major impact on organizational performance, especially in a high-growth environment.
It’s essential to stay on top of these critical functions to realise the company vision long term. Having access to flexible finance professionals who can help execute on key deliverables can make all the difference. Reinforcing your team with the right kind of expertise will enable them to reward you with razor-sharp insights provided at the right time.
4. Internal controls support services
In order to scale up sustainability, it is important to continuously improve and upgrade the internal control environment of an organization. As the company increases in size and new product/service lines, jurisdictions and bank accounts come into play. These variables influence the business model, requiring updates and sometimes design of existing and new internal controls.
Why not outsource the analysis, design, and implementation of internal controls to professionals who love procedures? Creating a strong internal control environment makes audits less painful and operations more effective. It also lowers business risk, which in turn increases valuation.
5. Compilation and consolidation of financial statements
Your internal finance team works hard to get each and every transaction of the year summarized to trial balance level. Compiling financial statements on global financial reporting standards is, however, a fairly particular task. This is where outsourcing can come in handy, by allowing experienced professionals to draft and consolidate on behalf of the senior finance team.
Our team also specializes in compiling sets of financials at full IFRS or IFRS for SMEs level that will pass the standards of any top 10 audit firm. Further support on adjustments, audit queries and finalization of financial statements allows your team to stay focused on the current financial year’s mission, without being tied down by the previous year’s reporting requirements.
6. System transition and project support
With the rapidly changing world we are living in, new accounting and operational systems are required to stay ahead of the competition and create efficiencies which free up human capital. Making the transition from an old to new system often requires specialized knowledge along with significant input and time from key personnel.
Navigating this transition can prove to be a massive task. What systems and software are best for the business? How will they be integrated? Will we experience downtime? How long will the implementation take? These are all important questions that will directly affect the organization. Dedicated finance and systems proficiencies will be required, but internal resources are often limited and with the operational needs of an organization and specific skill sets may be needed.
Just like the implementation of new systems, various other projects can also land on the finance team’s desk. Whether it’s the digestion of an acquisition, launching a new jurisdiction, or the process of preparing to raise capital, having access to a team of finance and accounting professionals that can help execute on important projects is invaluable. Internal finance team capacity and expertise is now no longer a constraint to the company’s growth and success.
So, what next?
We meet CFOs and the businesses where they are at in their journey and provide access to on-demand Accounting, Integration and CFO talent. Our team of highly qualified professionals have reinforced finance teams in over 25 countries.
We understand that business is about people. When you partner with Outsourced CFO, a finance professional or team with the right mix of knowledge, skills and experience is personally matched with your company; working with you to create a world-class finance function for your growing organization. Your success story is our success story. Bolster your finance team’s execution capabilities with a team committed to growth and success. Get in touch with us today.
