When is the Right Time for a Part Time CFO?

Leading a growing organization requires a great deal of hard work. At some point, it simply isn’t possible to do it all yourself. As your company continues to grow, you’ll find an increasing need for greater financial and business expertise beyond an accounting manager or controller. However, like most companies, you are probably not ready or able to hire a true, full-time Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

That’s where an experienced, part time CFO can play a huge role in transitioning your company to it’s Next Level. Even though a part-time CFO is outsourced, they should still be a key player in your organization: helping you to strategize your company’s future through a financial lens while strengthening its current financial position.

The best part time CFO’s bring both a depth and breadth of experience by working as a CFO for specific companies of different sizes in various industries. Hiring a person who has experienced and solved numerous financial challenges in so many settings is invaluable to a company seeking a part time CFO.

Another attractive feature to the entrepreneur with a growing, start up company is that a part time CFO can be a fraction of the cost of the average, full time CFO. According to Investopedia the median income of a true, full-time CFO is $315,947 per year, plus an average of $104,444 in benefits. When you add in average bonuses of $121,042, the average a CFO earns is  $541,433 per year.  And this total does not include stock options!

So, imagine…

Being able to draw upon the rich resources of experience of a person like George Black. Someone who has spent decades honing his skills working as a part-time CFO in corporations large and small (revenues from $1m to $500m) from local to multi-national companies across a range of industries since 1992.

He is adept at creating strategies that are designed to help your company grow, seeking out new ways to maximize profits, and strategically align your team. George Black understands what it takes to weather difficult financial times and how to prepare for them. He also knows how to capitalize on success so that your business can be taken to greater heights than you ever imagined possible.

What Roles can a Part Time CFO Play for your Organization?

This list highlights some key functions a great, part time CFO should be able to accomplish in your organization, depending on your needs.

Characteristics of a great part time CFO:

  • Brings both financial expertise and people expertise. The human element of a company has the greatest impact on its future success.
  • Ideates creative strategies and new ways to financially grow your company.
  • Can assess your operations from the ground up, looking for ways to increase profits and build value beyond just cutting expenses.
  • Of course, great skills in all things financial while understanding the underlying accounting and able to direct and interact with any CPA.
  • Able to make complex financial situations, simple to understand.
  • Is future oriented. Able to financially model the future impact of the leadership’s corporate strategies of today and financially describe their impact.
  • Communicates well with leadership, investors, bankers, etc. the financial and strategic aspects of the company.
  • Tracks the right financial data that the leadership needs for decision making.
  • Can develop customized metrics, well beyond the typical textbook ratios, to guide leadership in how the company is performing in relation to their strategies.
  • Proposes new sources of cash and forecast future needs, so a company will always be prepared for whatever lies ahead.
  • Provide great, ongoing cash flow management, including all the treasury management functions to maximize value.
  • Can institute and direct financial and accounting processes increasing efficiency and allowing for more accurate reporting.
  • Can negotiate contracts and/or provide strategic support for negotiations while interfacing with legal, as needed.
  • Develop and coordinate the execution of good tax avoidance strategies with attorneys and CPAs.

Bottom line: Expect a great, part time CFO to add value to your company.

At Intigro, we like to say that our Outsource CFO Services are NOT an expense (like an accountant or an attorney), but rather an investment. An investment you should not only expect to see returns on, but an investment that continues to produce returns, even after the part time CFO has gone, assuming their practices are continued.

So think about this:

  • When you find yourself handling more and more of the financial management details of your company, rather than doing the work you really love, similar to when you started the company;
  • When you find yourself asking your accounting people for sophisticated financial information, reports, or advice, and questioning what your receive;
  • When you find yourself running your business more on a “gut feel” than solid financial metrics and projections;
  • This list could go on and on, but perhaps you are getting the feel. Then…

Ask yourself:

What if you could hire just the right amount of CFO expertise you need while receiving all the value of a CFO in the upper percentile of CFOs nationally at a fraction of the cost?

If you answered “yes”…

Why not contact us?

We can deliver any or all these characteristics!

One at time or in bunches!