1. Cost Effective From Day One
The first, and perhaps most attractive attribute to a smaller business, is the services of a VCFO cost nowhere near that of a full-time CFO employee. There are also significant savings to be had when financial duties are outsourced to one provider who has greater capabilities to handle all aspects of compliance, budgets, forecasting and making financial business decisions.
2. Fewer Obligations as an Employer
By not having to actually employ someone to carry out the duties of a CFO, then you are not required to provide all the extra items that come with an employee, for example; the right equipment to do their job (software, hardware, mobile phone etc.) training, leave, performance management, office space and other responsibilities that come with hiring and managing people.
This relates to point one as well – cost savings are additional benefit of not having to provide for an employee.
3. Access to Specialist Skills and Expertise
From tax specialist advice to strategic planning and forecasting, capital raising, corporate governance and more, by implementing a VCFO you will gain access to the variety of skills provided by the firm that you run the system through – expertise that would be difficult to source in one individual.
Having someone provide an outside perspective on your business and its marketplace is also a great advantage offered by housing your VCFO at an accounting practice. When working in a business on a daily basis it is easy to fall into the trap of having a narrow outlook on what is going on around you, so an independent perspective can prompt you to see things you may not have noticed before – both issues, and possible solutions.
4. Improve Governance
As noted above, there is a definite value-add bringing on a VCFO from an external practice and this could be further extended by having them involved with strategic planning – enhancing board structure and improving overall business operational processes.
And if you engage your VCFO in providing timely and accurate management accounts and forecasting which empower the CEO with information, the result will be better-quality decision-making. Of course, you could go one step further and invite your VCFO to play a significant role on your governance board, as a strategy and numbers person, as well as offering the benefit of independence.
