A chief financial officer is an integral part of any business. They're an expert who can help you make sense of your revenue and develop an airtight budget. Unfortunately, hiring a CFO can be expensive. It can also be unnecessary if you don't need a CFO full time. If you'd like to consult with a CFO on a regular basis, you should consider hiring an outsourced CFO service. Here are four ways outsourced CFO services can benefit your business:
1. Figure out when to expand your business.
If you're like many business owners, you have goals of growing your business and increasing your revenue. At a certain point, your business will have grown as much as it can in its current form, and you might want to open a second or even third location. A CFO can help you decide the right time to make that move based on your financial situation. They can also help you make a plan to work toward that goal.
2. Manage your budget.
Budgeting is a key part of making money in any business. You need to ensure that you're keeping costs low and that you're bringing in more money than you're spending. If you have difficulty tracking expenses and determining a budget, an outsourced CFO can help you. They can sit down with you to create a budget and check in with you to make sure you're adhering to it.
3. Set aside money for a rainy day.
Just as it's important to have savings in your personal accounts, you should have money saved to protect your business. Natural disasters, lawsuits, and other unforeseen circumstances can negatively impact your business. If you suddenly have to pay for extensive repairs or find yourself dealing with a slow business season, you want to know that your business will be able to stay afloat. An outsourced CFO will help you figure out how much of your revenue you should be saving in case of emergency.
4. Save money.
An outsourced CFO service provides you with a trained, effective CFO on a consulting basis. This means you pay for their services only when you need them, instead of paying a full-time CFO an annual salary. According to Driven Insights, the salary for a full-time CFO is roughly $225,000. If you only need to meet with a CFO once or twice a month, you'll be saving thousands of dollars by outsourcing.
