Key Benefits of Hiring a CFO on a Part-Time Basis
Are you burned out on trying to be your own CFO? As a founder and CEO, you already carry the weight of two heavy titles. And while not hiring a CFO may have saved you money initially, you’re starting to drown in cash flow and investment concerns. You don’t have a background in accounting and finance or the time to learn it–but you also don’t have the budget for a full-time c-suite hire. So, what do you do? Hiring a CFO on a part-time basis is an excellent investment for businesses within $1m-$30m in annual revenues.
Why Does a Company Need a CFO If They Have an Accounting Team?
The accounting team’s job is inherent in their name. They do the accounting. And accounting is historical-focused. At the end of the day, your accounting team is focused on preparing financial statements for periods of time that have already passed.
The past helps you forecast the future, so the historical reports must be accurate. However, the accounting team’s function is not to tell you what your cash balance is going to look like 12 months from now. And the accounting team often does not have the skill set to perform such functions. That’s why it’s vital to understand the difference between a Controller and CFO and a CPA vs. CFO. While all these roles help a business thrive, they aren’t interchangeable.
What Does a CFO Do on a Daily Basis?
So, if a company needs an accounting team and a CFO, the question becomes: what does a CFO do on a daily basis? At Brady CFO, we start every partnership with a risk-free Financial Clarity Assessment. The results of this assessment determine what we do on a daily basis, specific to the needs and goals of your business.
During the assessment, we use benchmarking techniques to compare your company against industry peers and develop a customized KPI scorecard for your organization. We aim to help you stay on top of your finances and make informed decisions going forward. With our preliminary scenario forecast, we can help you evaluate various net income, EBITDA, and cash flow scenarios to ensure you're prepared no matter what the future holds.
So, Why Hire a CFO?
The benefits of hiring a CFO are vast. Most importantly, a highly skilled and knowledgeable CFO will help in three key areas.
1. A CFO Forecasts the Future
And doesn’t just create budgets. Budgeting is helpful in understanding income statement performance. However, a CFO helps develop cash flow forecasts that allow a business to understand what its cash position can look like multiple months and years out (dependent on various scenarios).
At the end of the day, cash is the lifeblood of a business. And business buyers buy businesses based on their ability to produce cash and finance the business purchase. Therefore, understanding and maximizing future cash flows is critical.
FREE TRAINING: Conquer Your Cash Flow
2. A CFO “Sells” a Business to Obtain Financing
An excellent CFO is a great storyteller who can “sell” a business to obtain needed financing. A banker doesn’t want just to see your financials. They want an explainable story for why last year wasn’t the best and how you intend to improve performance over the long term. What strategic initiatives will you deploy to produce more cash to finance any loan they give you? A CFO helps businesses find needed financing to grow. And this key role relies on salesmanship to obtain said financing.
3. A CFO Provides Strategic Analysis and Advice
A CFO is able to analyze a company’s financials and determine weak points that need to be improved to allow the business to grow sustainably and pay dividends to ownership and repay any debt. As a strategic and knowledgeable financial and business expert on your team, your CFO should be a key stakeholder in meaningful discussions and decisions for your company’s future health.
At Brady CFO, I recommend hiring a CFO if you encounter cash flow concerns, issues obtaining financing, or a lack of strategic vision for your company’s financial future. For companies generating less than $40 million in annual revenue, hiring a CFO for part-time services enables you to streamline your financial strategy and accomplish your goals, whether to increase cash flow or sell your company for top dollar.
Why Hire a CFO for Fractional Services?
A Fractional CFO can help businesses with revenues as low as $1m. They can also help companies with revenues as high as $50m. I recommend that businesses with less than $30-$40m in revenue work with a Fractional CFO.
At Brady CFO, I offer custom packages that work at the price point needed for each client based on size and need. That way, a company can start using my fractional CFO services early on and grow working together for many years without needing to hire a full-time CFO and incur the immense cost and overhead of doing so.
Why Hire Brady CFO for Fractional CFO Services?
If you want the support of a CFO without paying a multiple six-figure salary to hire one, fractional CFO services are an excellent solution. At Brady CFO, we support founders and CEOs in America’s backbone industries to forecast their financials by developing a strategic plan to increase revenues and set the company up for success and growth now and in the future.
As a bonus, we start all our partnerships with a 100% money-back guarantee Financial Clarity Assessment. If you don’t like our deliverable, you get your money back. It’s the perfect way to decide if you want to work together with zero risk. Get started today and experience the benefits of hiring a CFOfor fractional services.