Is your company ready for an outsourced FC?

Jun 21 2019

There comes a time in the growth of every successful business when the owner starts to feel that their bookkeeping resources simply aren’t enough. If handled properly, the company’s books are clean and the integrity of their financial data is secure.

Throughout the growth process, business owners find themselves wanting more from their data. Books closed on time aren’t enough, owners want to see insights and reporting to help guide their business through the next stages.

What could you do with more financial support for your growing business? Considering pricing adjustments? How about expansion? Do you know for sure what your gross profit margins are and what level of business you need to cover operating costs? Do you know what your cash flow projections really look like?

If you have any of these questions, concerns or more, then you may be ready for an outsourced financial controller.

Do you know your exact gross profit margins on every product or service?

Maybe when you were just starting out, it was easy to figure this out. With limited offerings and a simple cost base, you can figure out your direct costs vs. revenue to get a close estimation of gross profit margins and have a good idea if these would cover your operating costs.

But this number can get away from you quickly as you grow, which could mean that the information you’re using to make business decisions is less than clear, or outdated. Especially if you have expanded offerings or now have staff with different costs and rates, you need to be sure you’re really making the profits you think you are.

How much cash will you have in six months from now?

Did you know that most small business owners cannot answer this question confidently? The fact is projecting cash flow and having certainty over your projections is a huge obstacle for many growing businesses.

Can you afford to add more staff?

Behind every employee is a cost and a projected addition to the bottom line. Do you think another salesperson will improve revenue? And what does that mean to the rest of the company’s ability to meet demand? Single decisions can have extensive ramifications-ones that can make or break your business.

Can you see your whole company on one page?

Yes, your data is all there…somewhere…. A reliable dashboard, daily flash report, and custom reporting can help make sure your company snapshot is always within reach. After all, spending time hunting for numbers and lining up data isn’t going to help anyone.

Did you find yourself wondering whether you know the answers? You might want to consider adding a financial controller to your business management team.

Your financial controller works alongside and supervises your bookkeeper, working as a team to bring you the information in a user-friendly format.

The financial controller provides you with analysis to help you understand your financial data, generating information on which you can make informed business decisions.

Without a financial controller, you can find yourself studying your balance sheet, profit and loss, and financial forecasts to try and understand what they’re telling you about your business.

Instead, of course, you need to be in a position to readily know what your financial data and reports mean, so you can apply informed insights from thoroughly analysed data to operate your business and to make the best decisions for it. Having a financial controller to do the analytic work for you, in addition to carefully managing all of your company’s accounting functions, allows you to run your business without personally performing the job of a financial controller.

Benefits of hiring a part-time finance resource

Hiring a full-time, experienced in-house financial controller is expensive and you may not have a full-time need. Outsourcing provides you with access to a quality individual at a cost that is aligned to your business needs.

Furthermore, you can choose the right individual to maximise performance, productivity, and compliance at the correct level for your business.

By engaging a part-time financial controller, you simply pay for support as and when it is required. This allows you to invest more of your funds in activities which will directly benefit your bottom line.

If you’re struggling to find a part-time Financial Controller for your business, EFM can help. Our team of experienced FC & FD EFM Experts are here to support your business.