CFO services consulting: Two paths to strengthening your finance function
Key takeaways:
CFO services consulting can solve two different problems. Some companies need someone to fill the CFO seat. Others need tactical support so their CFO can get out of the weeds.
An outsourced CFO helps translate accounting data into strategy, planning, reporting and better decisions.
Tactical support is needed when your in-house CFO is stuck doing daily accounting tasks due to a lack of efficient processes or sufficient in-house staffing.
The right consulting partner qualifications depend on the gap. CFO leadership requires strategic judgment, analysis and storytelling. Tactical support requires technical expertise, process-building, reliability and flexibility.
Aerial supports both paths. Our team can provide high-level finance strategy, nuts-and-bolts accounting support, or any combination of the two.
CFO services consulting can go one of two ways
Most high-growth companies who are looking for CFO services consulting are in one of two situations:
No CFO: These companies might or might not have an in-house accounting team, but they don’t have a CFO on board. That means there’s no one to translate day-to-day accounting numbers into meaningful data to guide leadership in their strategic planning.
Undersupported CFO: These companies have a CFO on board, but the finance work has outgrown the in-house team’s capacity, so the CFO is spending their time on lower level tasks that are preventing them from supporting leadership strategically.
And, for startup companies picking up momentum, there may be no in-house finance resources at all yet. If that’s your situation, pop over to our article on bookkeeping services for startups!
The type of CFO services you’ll want to pursue depends on which of these scenarios best describes organization.
Scenario 1: You need to fill the CFO seat
We usually see companies reaching out for outsourced CFO services when leadership is starting to feel that they’re navigating important business decisions without a financial map. A strong CFO is the link between financial data and strategy.
If your company isn’t quite ready to bring a CFO on full-time, then a fractional, or outsourced, CFO can provide essential strategic guidance without locking you into a long-term leadership hire.
External CFO services can help you answer these big-picture questions and many more:
How much cash is actually available?
Can we afford to expand?
Which contracts are proving most profitable?
Are we losing profit to hidden costs?
Should we rent or buy equipment?
How do we plan for revenue growth?
Their role is translational. They take the raw numbers and synthesize them into reports that are meaningful in the context of your business goals, and then help your leadership team understand how the numbers play into your strategic planning process.
Scenario 1: Your CFO is drowning
This is a scenario we see again and again in high-growth companies, especially. The company has invested in a qualified CFO, but that person is too stuck in day-to-day account operations to manage the big picture and translate into meaningful reporting that the leadership team can act on.
Often, the root cause is a lack of efficient processes. A weak accounts payable workflow, for example, can suck hundreds of hours out of an accounting team!
Even with good processes in place, a fast-growing company can find themselves with insufficient in-house support to keep accounts receivable and payable, budget tracking, audit prep, and other recurring tasks on schedule.
In this scenario, CFO services consulting is a support role. You’re looking for a multi-talented team of finance professionals who can help your company build more robust processes and offer day-to-day support as needed to ease the tactical pressure on the CFO. That frees them up for the strategic work they were hired to do!
| Warning flag | Potential cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| The CFO is reviewing bills, chasing invoice details, fixing coding, and cleaning up numbers at month end. | The strategic finance seat exists, but too much low-level work is flowing uphill. | Tactical finance support |
| Recurring finance tasks get done eventually, but every cycle turns into a scramble for the same overloaded finance leader. | Processes are too weak, or the team too overtaxed, to keep recurring work from becoming a fire drill. | Tactical finance support |
| The leadership team is unsure if they can afford a new hire or big purchase, and they don’t get clear answers from the finance team. | There’s no one responsible for turning raw financial data into reports that support strategic decision making. | Outsourced CFO |
| Revenue is growing, but leadership can’t tell whether the growth is making the company stronger or just more expensive to run. | The company is lacking profitability analysis, cash planning, and financial interpretation at the leadership level. | Outsourced CFO |
| More stakeholders (investors, board, etc.) are entering the picture and are demanding a clearer financial picture than the accounting team can provide. | CFO-level reporting, planning, and narrative around performance, risk, and next-stage growth is missing. | Outsourced CFO |
What to look for in a CFO services consulting partner
Whether you’re looking for leadership or tactical support, you’ll want to make sure the finance partner you choose has the right skill set to meet your needs.
If you’re looking for CFO leadership
If strategic leadership is what you need, then there are three key areas you’ll want to assess: strategic judgement, data analysis, and reporting.
Strategic judgment: This is where experience plays the biggest role. You want an outsourced CFO who doesn’t just theoretically understand the big picture but has actually seen different scenarios play out. Technical finance expertise is great, but only if it’s deeply connected with big-picture business savvy. You’re looking for a person who understands the numbers and the business goals and can clearly explain the path the numbers lay out to business success.
Data analysis: You want your external CFO to have a deep understanding of accounting so they know which numbers need to be captured and how as well as which reports to pull and how to pull them to suss out the data most relevant to your business.
Reporting: Think this is the same thing as data analysis? Think again. A good external CFO doesn’t just pull the right numbers. They use those numbers to tell a story that non-finance leadership and stakeholders can understand. You need a strong translator and compelling storyteller for this role. Someone who can clearly connect the dots that lead to good decision making.
If you’re looking for tactical support
If you have an in-house CFO that needs more tactical support to free them up for higher-level thinking, the focus is a bit different. You’ll want to look for deep technical expertise, process-building capability, reliability, and flexibility.
Technical expertise: For day-to-day accounting operations, you often need specialists. So, look for a CFO services consulting partner with experts in accounts payable, reconciliation, month-end close, expense documentation, audit prep, and any other gaps you’re experiencing.
Process-building capability: Your accounting team is only as efficient as its workflows. Choosing a partner who can help you assess your recurring needs and build robust processes to support them makes things easier now and sets you up to scale smoothly as your company grows.
Reliability: When you’re outsourcing day-to-day accounting tasks, you have to trust that your partner is going to show up as or more reliably than an in-house hire. Look for CFO service consulting partners with strong reviews from past clients.
Flexibility: This one is helpful when outsourcing CFO services, but even more important for tactical level accounting support. As your company evolves, its accounting needs will inevitably shift. If you choose a finance partner who is too narrowly specialized, they won’t be able to grow with you. Choosing a partner who has a deep bench with a spectrum of expertise ensures the partnership can keep pace with your company’s success!
How Aerial supports both CFO services consulting paths
Often, when you hire a finance consultant, you’re forced to choose between a firm that specializes in high-level consultants and one that focuses on the nuts-and-bolts bookkeeping that keeps a business running. Aerial does both.
How? It’s all about our team. Our staff ranges from experienced finance strategists to get-the-job-done-right-and-fast accounts payable experts. And, we have the flexibility to adapt your team to your needs as you grow, which makes our partnership infinitely scalable.
Want to explore what CFO services consulting might look like for your company with Aerial? Schedule a quick call here.
