Perkins & Co recently added a new service line—Outsourced CFO Services—to its already vast array of client offerings. As the former Head of Finance at a small business, I am incredibly excited to join this team and provide a service I once utilized as a client to other emerging companies. When a business starts to grow, financial expertise is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Timely and high-quality financial insights are critical, but managing complex financial operations without sufficient resources for internal staffing is exceptionally challenging. This is where hiring a fractional CFO or Controller and having a strategic partner comes into play. An accounting firm with multiple service lines, like Perkins, allows you to dip into combined knowledge as needed without scrambling for answers at the last minute or draining valuable resources for full-time personnel costs.
As your business grows and your financial situation becomes more complex, the challenges you’ll face can be more easily addressed by hiring a fractional CFO or Controller. So, let’s explore some of the potential benefits together.
Flexibility
Fractional CFOs and Controllers offer unparalleled flexibility. They can work on a consulting basis, from annual and quarterly check-ins to consistently participating in your monthly closes and review cycles. Their offerings can be scaled and expanded to include other service lines to meet your company’s specific needs, like tax, audit, or other advisory services.
Cost-Efficiency
Especially for smaller companies, hiring a fully staffed Finance and Accounting department can be cost-prohibitive. Rather than committing your budget to hiring one in-house position, your fractional CFO firm can perform work at multiple levels, from the technical accountant level to the CFO and Controller level, at a fraction of the cost.
Breadth of Experience
Depending on your needs, a fractional CFO with specific industry expertise can help with various tasks, such as cash flow analysis, financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. They can also support you in strategic decision-making for your business’s future operations. When paired with an accounting firm’s multiple service offerings, a fractional CFO can be the link to other technical accounting, tax, and transaction services.
Seamless Integration
An outsourced CFO can seamlessly integrate with your own staff and company leadership to make processes more efficient either on site or remotely. Over time, they can help you staff, train, and build your internal accounting department and find the right permanent resources.
Investor or Board Reporting
When it’s time to report your business performance to inside and outside stakeholders like board members and investors, a fractional CFO can assist you with making the most of these critical events in your company’s life cycle.
Specific Initiatives
A fractional CFO or Controller can function as additional staff and a resource for specific projects and initiatives. They can assist with a financing transaction or provide help during a period of accelerated growth or financial strain on the company. Additionally, they can help assess the need for or advise during the implementation of new software or ERP systems.
Hiring a fractional CFO or Controller forms a highly strategic partnership, crucial for businesses seeking guidance across a multitude of situations, whether on a temporary or a consistent, ongoing basis. This role offers an exceptionally flexible route to accessing a broad spectrum of resources and expert knowledge. Engaging a fractional CFO can significantly enhance your company’s financial and strategic planning as well, offering insights that are both in-depth and tailored to your unique business needs. Their expertise ensures your business not only sustains its operations but thrives in competitive markets.
The opportunity to transform your financial management strategies and achieve remarkable growth is just a conversation away. Please reach out to our outsourced CFO advisory team at your convenience to schedule a discovery call and uncover how a Fractional CFO can be the catalyst for your business’s next level of success.