In this high inflationary environment, it has never been more important to strike the right balance between managing the rising cost of doing business, and maintaining the growth trajectory of your company.
Inflation is not the only challenge. Businesses are also facing increased difficulty in finding and hiring experienced and skilled staff. The chronic skills shortage has been exacerbated by the lengthy border closures and significantly increased sick leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, there is ever growing scrutiny on corporate governance measures, with renewed focus on internal processes and financial accountability.
Against the backdrop of these challenges and a difficult macro-economic environment, it’s worth assessing the viability of outsourcing non-core business streams. Typically, if a company is on a growth trajectory it can be easier to tap into those that can provide the required expertise with a flexible offering that can be scaled up or scaled down. Whether it is legal, human resources or accounting and CFO services, now is an opportune time to outsource these functions and fill the gap in a tight labour market where having your own in house team can be much more challenging to maintain.
In our realm of accounting and finance we have seen considerable interest in outsourced or virtual CFO services. High growth companies require qualified and skilled professional assistance on both in-house finance function support as well as strategic tax and financial advisory services.
What does a virtual CFO do?
Responsibility of a strategic and growth-oriented Virtual CFO (VCFO) includes financial stewardship, overseeing financial operations, strategic finance as well as being a catalyst to support growth. They may also have a specific focus on supporting the client preparing for a transaction. This can involve helping the founders define business drivers and implement metrics to track growth and profitability, prepare forecasting and budgeting and assisting with accounting policies and technology systems. Beyond that, a successful virtual CFO will oversee the use of funds, reporting to investors and align the finance requirements to the strategic plans. The range of assistance required can be broad.
Why engage with a virtual CFO
- VCFO is an affordable and cost-effective alternative to a full-time, in-house CFO. It provides clients access to CFO level experience at reduced cost of a full time CFO and support team
- Flexible engagement terms allow scaling up or down as business needs change
- VCFO engagements enable access to a global network of professionals with technical and industry expertise as well as their eco system of clients and contacts
If you are interested to explore how our Virtual CFO service can complement your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
