External CFO

OVERVIEW

Our external CFO service is a completely bespoke service designed to match and adapt to the ongoing needs of our clients. We endeavour to provide you with oversight over your accounting function and the information you need to optimise and run your business. Each business has different needs, and therefore the projects required and the role the external CFO plays in each business is different. We work with our clients to identify what one-off projects are needed, what ongoing tasks are required and what is to be prioritised.

We want to understand what makes your business tick.

What financial indicators and reports to you check on a regular basis?
How do you judge the performance of your business?
What KPIs do you have in place?
How do you make financial decisions?
How do your key numbers compare to industry benchmarks?
How would you benefit from a CFO keeping your numbers tidy, dependable and helping guide you toward growth?

DELIVERING VALUE

Working with our CFO team, business owners make better decisions for their business. This is especially critical when you are in a growth phase and working through the challenges of staffing, cashflow and financial management. We work with you to identify the best systems and reports, freeing you up to make decisions based on fact, achieve budgets and take advantage of opportunities that otherwise would have been missed.

Providing clarity and confidence in your business
A driving force for profit, smoother cashflow and maximising your return on investment
Having accurate, dependable numbers on a regular basis
Knowing where you stand at any given time
Giving you the information you need to make the best decisions for your business in an efficient manner
Holding you and your accounts team accountable
The bridge between the numbers and the business owner
Helping achieve your goals

WHAT WE DO

Get to know you and your business on a deeper level to understand your operations and understand how to deliver results and improvements in the quickest way. This includes:

Organisational structure
History
Performance
Goals
Diagnose key issues and priorities

Analysis

Who’s reviewing fluctuations in your cost of sales, telephone expenses, or change in net profit?

We provide analysis and insights into your business

Interpret the numbers so that they are meaningful to the business owner

Red flags and green flags. What’s spelling trouble and what’s working well.

Education

Do you know how to read a profit and loss and balance sheet and other core finance reports for your business?

Work with the business owner to teach how to run important reports and how to read them, providing the business owner more autonomy

Strategy

Should you expand into a new division? Rent vs buy the new asset? Increase stock on hand? Hire that new employee?

We can assist with your strategic decisions before you commit

 Financial models and information for strategic decisions

Goals

Where do you want to be in 5 years and how are you going to get there? What’s your sales target for 1, 3 & 5 years?

Development of goals/KPIs

Tracking/monitoring of goals/KPIs

Budgeting

Stop comparing your performance to previous performance and start comparing to what you expect and need to happen in order to achieve your goals.

Development budgets

Tracking/monitoring of budgets

Cashflow Analysis

How much is the BAS bill going to be and will you have the funds to pay for it? Can you afford an extra container of goods?

Going backwards to see where the money went

Looking forward to give you insight into what’s ahead

Accountability

Who checks that reconciliations are completed? Who holds you accountable for your targets and business performance?

More oversight over the accounting function

Holding your accounting team accountable. Ensuring accounts are closed off in a timely manner

Holding the business owner accountable, to targets/budgets/KPIs.

Support

Who do you talk to about how your business is going on a regular basis? Celebrating the wins, learning from the losses and ongoing support through your business journey.

Get The Numbers Right:

Management reporting isn’t the same as BAS or income tax reporting. We work to get the numbers right to enable you to run the business better and allow you to run your own reports. This includes

Review and enhance accounting software

Enhance or develop processes and procedures around your accounting function

Enhance chart of accounts to ensure it is meaningful

Review job tracking, business segment tracking where appropriate

Review stock management where appropriate

Review and enhance regular reporting

Checks and oversight over the accounts

HOW WE DO IT

Regular meetings with business owner (and key staff as required) to analyse periodic performance and set the goals and tasks for the next period:

Fortnightly – for the larger business that requires high levels of support
Monthly – recommended for most sized businesses.
Quarterly – for smaller businesses or for ongoing maintenance after initial period of monthly meetings

Utilise your existing accounting software wherever possible

Utilise specialised software which feeds from your existing accounting software to provide additional analysis tools and reporting clarity

We are not the “doers”. We don’t replace your bookkeeper or accountant. Ie. We won’t be completing reconciliations or take over the internal or external accounting functions. We provide the guidance, instruction, information and support for you and your staff to take action in your business.