Virtual CFO Benefits

You have a bookkeeper or a small accounts team responsible for ensuring that your customers are paying you, and that suppliers and payroll payments are made when they are due.

At the end of each financial year, an accountancy firm prepares your annual financial statements and submits your tax returns.  

On a daily basis, you lack financial transparency, which is impacting your business growth and causing sleepless nights.

Your business might not be big enough to justify the necessity (and expense) of hiring a full-time virtual CFO, but…

Is it time to find a part-time virtual CFO?

A virtual CFO could provide the clarity, direction, and financial credibility you are looking for.  If affordability is a concern, the cost-effective nature of a part-time virtual CFO might surprise you. You can access senior-level financial expertise without the commitment or expense of a full-time employee.

This forward looking service is so new that the job market has yet to decide on a title. The same position is known as either –

    • Outsourced Finance Director

    • Virtual Finance Director

    • Fractional Finance Director

    • Virtual CFO

    • Fractional CFO etc

However the services and benefits are similar –

Financial Clarity

You have aspirations, whether it’s to expand, secure funding, sell, or simply become more profitable. To achieve these goals, you require comprehensive financial insights to guide your decisions.

Without this information, it’s challenging to identify your most profitable customers or products and determine the areas for potential growth.

Setting a realistic yet challenging budget involves more than a vague 10% increase estimate. It requires a detailed understanding to gain your team’s support and ensure accountability in achieving targets.

Predicting cash flow fluctuations in the upcoming months is crucial to avoid running out of funds, especially when expenses like VAT payments are due. A Part-Time Virtual CFO can assist in creating budgets, cash flow forecasts, client profitability reports, and management accounts, providing valuable insights and expert analysis to help you make informed decisions.

More time for you to do what you went into business to do.

Having a skilled virtual CFO on your team allows you to focus on your core abilities and advancing your business – the tasks you envisioned when starting your business. Additionally, you will be more well-informed.

Better decision making

A virtual CFO can provide valuable financial knowledge and insight to help you make informed decisions. Serving as your trusted advisor, the Part-Time virtual CFO will support your strategies, offer valuable feedback, and maintain impartiality with your best interests at heart.

Enhanced relationships

Having a financial expert with a strong reputation in your company can enhance your financial standing with banks, investors, auditors, and insurers, potentially leading to new opportunities. Allow your virtual CFO to handle negotiations and bolster connections with stakeholders.

Flexible and cost effective

Receive financial expertise and strategic advice at the board level for your business without the expenses and obligations associated with hiring a full-time CFO.. You only pay a day rate for the days you require. Additionally, a virtual CFO can provide flexibility by adjusting the time dedicated to you during crucial projects.

About FD Solutions and Accounting

FD Solutions and Accounting provide virtual CFOs to growing and ambitious small and medium businesses in South East England with a typical turnover in excess of £100K.  Typically we spend between 5-15 hours per week working with each client through a mixture of remote and on-site.

Hiring a part-time virtual CFO can provide your business with the expertise and practical knowledge to take it to its next stage, whether through organic growth, acquisition, securing funding, private equity or preparing for an exit strategy.   You do not need to hire a full time CFO to receive the benefits of one.

Straight talking with an objective of making businesses more financially aware our dynamic approach sets us apart.

Please message me for more information.

0% Funding Loan Kent and Medway based businesses

Excellent news for Kent and Medway based businesses…

Kent and Medway business fund is now accepting applications for 0% loans between £25K – £99K from small and medium sized business start-ups to help develop new and expand existing products, services or processes which in turn can create jobs, drive growth and improve productivity. 

Could be this expenditure will quality for generous R&D tax credits too!!!.

Key eligibility requirements

Your business must be able to prove a good profitable track record

Be creating or protecting sustainable jobs

Must not be subject to collections or insolvency proceedings.

Any funding must be 20-30% match funded via business reserves or bank loans.

Please note depending on assessed risk at the discretion of the council further personal security may be required.

Established businesses or those seeking a larger loan can apply for a KMBF Standard loan.

Finer details about both loans and how to apply can be found at

https://www.kent.gov.uk/business/business-loans-and-funding/small-business-boost-loan

Or speak to me to help assist you further.

Are You Selling Your Business?

A word of caution when selling your business which contains personal guarantees for the business loans or overdrafts.

A case was reported in the financial press recently where a business owner had sold their business and duly informed their bank of the sale and their desire to be removed from the bank account as they were no longer a director providing the new owner details at the same time.  Role forward 18 months and the bank are demanding the old owner repay an overdraft of almost £40K racked up by the new owner who has also filed for insolvency….

The mistake the former owner appears to have made was not asking the bank to remove their personal guarantee specifically and requiring the level of joined up thinking by the bank – which through a combination over reliance on computer programmes and overseas outsourcing does not always happen.

Fortunately through some fairly hard lobbying by the newspaper the bank accepted their oversight however in conclusion as part of the business sales process make sure the cancellation of personal guarantees are specifically requested and confirmed in writing plus better still existing business bank accounts are closed.