A virtual CFO is a professional who does many of the same tasks as a traditional CFO.
The key difference is they provide services as needed rather than providing them as a full-time, hired-in professionals. That means that your company does not pay a salary to the CFO but rather pays for services you need from a certified, experienced professional.
It’s often better for mid-size and smaller companies to turn to a virtual CFO than to try to hire someone to provide these valuable services. The fact is, many companies do not have the revenue to afford a full-time, in-house CFO, but they can gain the insight and information they need to manage their organization with a virtual CFO provider.
Consider what they have to offer and how this could help your business.
Cash Flow Management
There is no doubt that cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. If you don’t have enough cash flow coming in, or you are not managing it properly, it can limit your business’s financial stability on any given day.
To maintain a healthy cash flow, you need accurate and routine management. If you do not have oversight of it on a regular basis, it’s easy to lose sight of where it is going.
A virtual CFO can help create strategies for managing cash flow and handle its oversight. This helps to improve cash flow within the company and alleviates periods of limitation.
Managing Capital
Raising money as a startup or a growing company is not uncommon. What is challenging is knowing how to present your company in such a way that you can raise those funds successfully.
A virtual CFO can help by providing you with oversight and guidance on several factors. That includes determining how much you need to raise and which are the best sources of capital for your needs. They’ll guide you through the entire process, ensuring you secure the funds in the most efficient and affordable way.
They can also work with investors on your behalf. This may include:
- Discussing your needs
- Gaining insight into where your company needs improvements to attract new investors
- Strategizing ways to improve the business as a whole.
Ultimately, a virtual CFO’s goal is to help you gain the financial support you need to see your company grow.
Strategizing Growth Plans
Growing your business is not just increasing revenue. It is creating plans to help you to get to the next level.
Virtual CFOs provide you with the financial advice your business needs to grow, including providing different points of view on how to make decisions impacting the finances of your company.
It may also include providing some guidance on what your company could achieve if you made changes or adjustments to your financial strategies.
The CFO can help with both long-term growth strategy development as well as helping you to meet your more short-term goals. That often means:
- Evaluating various strategies
- Developing plans to meet your goals
- Providing guidance on how to make core decisions
In addition to creating strategies to help you reach your goals, your virtual CFO will help you build the systems and processes you need to achieve them. This is done through careful guidance and consideration, because, without it, you’ll outgrow them too quickly.
Metrics and Reporting
A virtual CFO’s job includes keeping a close eye on your finances. It is their goal to help you raise money, make money, and use your money in the best possible way to achieve your company’s biggest opportunities.
Having a professional with a watchful eye on your finances can help you avoid many of the complications that are so common in small businesses and startups.
A core part of this is to track key, industry-specific metrics. With pinpointed tracking, you’ll be able to more accurately spot issues and make changes to improve the business.
Some of the metrics your virtual CFO may track include:
- Customer acquisition cost
- Customer lifetime value
- Churn rate
- Competitor pricing
- MRR (typically for SaaS startups)
Tracking these allows for the CFO to have a good eye on areas of potential improvement for your business.
In addition to this, your CFO will also build reports that can be used to grow your business. Their in-depth knowledge of your numbers will help you make accurate, data-driven decisions for your business.
Let Pasquesi Partners Be Your Virtual CFO
The investment in a virtual CFO opens the door for:
- In-depth cash flow management
- More opportunities to raise and optimize capital
- Short- and long-term growth plans
- Intentional metric-tracking and reporting
- A knowledgable financial partner
If you’re interested in reaping these benefits, hiring a virtual CFO may be the right choice for you.
Pasquesi Partners offers virtual CFO services that will help you get the most out of your business. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you grow!