When is it time to engage a CFO?
In the current uncertain business environment, it can be challenging to remain informed about your business’ financial wellbeing, understand the risks in the marketplace, plus manage the daily matters of your business. Whether your business is booming or you’re scratching your head at your latest sales figures, a chief financial officer, or CFO, can be the valuable addition you need to help solidify the future of your business. Consider:
- Do you know how to interpret your financial data in order to plan, forecast and boost your business performance?
- Do you have a healthy cash flow?
- Are your financial figures up to date and accurate?
- Is your finance function working efficiently and effectively?
If you answered no to one or all of these questions, it’s a solid indicator that your business might benefit from the expertise of a Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
How can a CFO add value?
There are numerous ways that a CFO can significantly impact the growth and prosperity of your business. Sitting as a right-hand associate to you, the main role of the CFO is to be a strategic leader who can apply financial expertise to guide strong business performance. This means that a CFO understands your business model and oversees strategic business planning, financial modelling and budgeting, and reporting systems oversight. They will also manage compliance, and mitigate risk to your business by monitoring economic, tax, regulatory and industrial forces at play in the marketplace. Plus, they can ensure the financial health of the business is always front of mind by preparing regular financial and management reports.
When does your business need a CFO?
It can be difficult to know when your business will benefit from a CFO. As a growing business, you need to weigh up the hard labour cost against the prospective value to your business.
If you’re unsure whether your business is ready to hire a CFO, here are a few situations where it’s an opportune time to get serious about it:
- When your business is growing rapidly. Business growth requires an expansion of systems, capital, and staff. A CFO can step in to analyse your financial position and help devise a strategic plan to support ongoing growth whilst minimising costs.
- When you develop new products or intend to expand into new markets. A CFO will overlay advancing technology and fluctuating global market forces against your business goals to ensure strategic timing for your activities.
- When you need a bank loan or line of credit. Hire a CFO to assist you with analysing your financial position and managing this process can help you save time and money.
- When you don’t know why you aren’t as profitable as you need. Controlling costs, improving productivity, and optimising revenue opportunities is possible with a CFO managing your finance function efficiently and effectively.
- You lack detailed financial data to help inform your business. A CFO can review and analyse your existing financial systems and deliver routine financial dashboards that enable you to understand your business’ financial health at a glance.
What should you look for in a CFO?
A CFO should be able to demonstrate years of experience in helping build and sustain businesses fiscally. Plus, they should be enthusiastic about your business and its opportunities to grow. Engaging a CFO ensures you are equipped to make informed business decisions whilst your finance function will run effectively and efficiently. If you don’t feel you are in a position to hire a CFO permanently, engaging external CFO services gives you the financial expertise and guidance you need at an affordable rate.
Following years of supporting and sitting alongside our existing clients with CFO consulting, Dexterous Group now offers a CFO Advisory in conjunction with our other services. Our well-established managed bookkeeping and accounting services show that we know what it takes to build a solid finance team: the right people, systems, and processes all need to be in place as a bedrock to grow your business. It is this fundamental foundation for your finance function that will further benefit from the right insight and advice from our CFOs when you need it.
Get the expertise you need to grow
Dexterous Group is a proactive and technology-driven team of finance professionals who are ready to assist you with growing your business. Our CFO Advisory offers an end-to-end solution to businesses. If you would like to talk to us more about how our CFO Advisory can offer you strategic advice and expert insight, please speak with your Client Manager, call 1300 996 928.
