Regardless of your company’s nature, being able to properly handle your finances will always be one of the topmost priorities of your management.
However, while all enterprises and institutions are expected to be proficient in managing their finances, accounting firms and other institutions who operate within the field of finance and accounting are expected to not only be able to properly manage their finance but to effectively optimize their financial processes to remain competitive.
For clients of these firms, it adds a layer of trust and security to see that they handle their finances well and in a proactive manner – making it easier for the client to outsource their accounting needs to said firm.
Now, for accounting firms, the responsibility to excel in financial management practices falls on the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as they are the ones tasked to plan and strategize their financial actions.
However, the regular job of a CFO as is already hefty with core tasks that require them to be on top of critical business numbers which is why even with a full-time and in-house CFO, hiring outsourced Part-time CFO support may be the best way to go about optimizing your financial processes.
A Part-time CFO Support or Fractional CFO Support refers to an outsourced partner or team who takes on some of the roles and responsibilities of your full-time CFO so that they can focus on your company’s core tasks.
Those who offer part-time CFO support are experts in the field of finance and accounting, able to give high-level financial oversight and strategic guidance on a flexible and as-needed basis.
With this kind of support not being limited to or exclusive to one company, they are able to serve multiple clients and gain experience in the market that can help your firm adapt to any industry changes and remain competitive.
Primarily, part-time CFO support is usually advantageous for small to mid-sized companies that need financial leadership but do not require—or cannot afford—a full-time CFO, however, with today’s competitive market, employing support even if you have a full-time CFO gives you the competitive advantage you need.
But how can a Part-time CFO add value to your firm? Let’s dive right in!
Financial oversight refers to the overall supervision and control of your company’s financial transactions. This is typically one of the core functions of a full-time CFO as they implement internal finance and accounting policies and create, interpret and analyze financial statements for various purposes.
The Part-time CFO Advantage
With the right support, your CFO can focus directly on financial transactions and reports while your Part-time CFO takes a holistic approach – looking at how your competitors optimize their financial transactions, slowly integrating technology and automation to streamline processes and consulting on cash-flow decisions with updated market knowledge to help ensure the stability of your firm’s finances.
Creating a budget and ensuring that your financial resources are being put to good use are basic tasks that a full-time CFO does on an annual or bi-annual basis – allocating resources according to the goals and directives of the company as a whole.
In this regard, they are expected to be able to maintain control over the business capital of the firm as they allocate, diversify and/or invest in different initiatives.
The Part-time CFO Advantage
Part-time CFO support during budget allocation can help a firm ensure that your expenditures are strategically planned and strictly implemented. Once budget has been properly allocated by the CFO, they no longer have to keep an eye on how it is utilized as a part-time CFO can handle the implementation process as well as adapt to challenges – allowing the CFO to focus on other proactive initiatives for company growth.
Read: The Role of a Chief Financial Officer in Good Cash Flow Management
Cash management is not just about the wise and practical use of your money. More than anything else, it also covers the assessment of market liquidity and corporate investments. CFOs are essential in this aspect as their extensive background in finance and accounting allows them to fully maximize the profitability of the firm’s assets.
The Part-time CFO Advantage
As Part-time CFO support usually comes from service providers who offer a wide range of finance and accounting services, your chosen partner can give your firm trustworthy wealth management advice – taking into account the current and future state of the market you operate in, economic and global fluctuations and other external factors. With expert wealth management advice, your team provides indispensable help for growing your wealth and fostering the financial security of your firm.
As an accounting firm, one of your obligations to your clients is making sure that you stay on top of their compliance and regulatory requirements. This requires an in-depth understanding of regulatory standards both in finance and in the markets your clients are in. With this, your full-time CFO’s job is tasked with making sure everyone in your firm has the necessary training and resources to cope with these continuous changes.
The Part-time CFO Advantage
Staying on top of regulatory changes is easiest done with the right back-office support – meaning a considerable amount of time and resources spent. With a part-time CFO whose job is to always be updated, you no longer have to spend valuable resources just to handle regulatory compliance. Your partner’s expertise comes to you as is, making it the cost-effective way to handle your compliance preparation and lodging.
Read Next: What is CFO Outsourcing? Benefits and List of Services
Some accounting firms include debt collection and financing as part of the services they offer. With this, they design debt collection and finance option initiatives for their clients and their clients’ clients to use. However, debt collection and financing come with its own regulatory requirements from government bodies, banks and at times third party investors – making it a complicated process for your full-time CFO to maintain.
The Part-time CFO Advantage
Fortunately, you can make this easier with your outsourced CFO support. They can formulate ways on how your client can advise their clients on how to manage debts with flexible options that suit their cash flow. Through their expertise, they can make the right decisions with the right data – providing sustainable and actionable debt collection and financing solutions.
With Part-time CFO support as an advantage to the following routine tasks of a CFO, your firm is able to optimize not just your service delivery process but the quality of the services you provide as well.
Now that you know the benefits of having part-time CFO Support, the next step would be knowing how to choose the right partner to help manage your CFO’s growing roles and responsibilities.
In this step, it is important to note that they will be acting as an extension of your firm. Because of this, it is more than just a cost-savings strategy as your main purpose should be ensuring that your decision adds significant value to your operations and firm as a whole.
Depending on your accounting firm’s clientele, the scale of your own operations and the diversity of the services you offer, the support you need from outsourced part-time CFO support may vary. Because of this, it is best to find a partner that doesn’t focus on giving a one-size fits all package.
Tailored and scalable support allows you to create a support strategy together with your partner that perfectly fills in the gap of your operational needs – making sure that you are paying only for essential services and focusing on the ones that directly help you optimize your financial processes.
While most look solely at the services you offer, it is important to find a partner whose company culture complements your own. As an extension of your team, you want your outsourced CFO partner to share the same values and practices so that you are aligned in your goal and how to achieve them.
To get to know their culture, you can take the time to meet their own team, visit their office or even ask for an orientation with all of their departments and/or their management team – this will allow you to immerse yourself in their operations and get a feel of what their company culture is like and whether or not it matches yours.
A company’s finances are considered sensitive data. With accounting firms being in the business of handling their clients’ finances, they become the trusted partner of these clients – holding significant amounts of sensitive data that they are responsible for securing and keeping safe. As you look for the right part-time CFO support it is important that you find a partner who places high priority in security and confidentiality.
How do you do this? By asking about their technology and training practices. You want a partner who integrates the latest in finance and accounting technology to completely secure the data entrusted to them. You also want someone whose foundation and employee training heavily emphasize and implement confidentiality clauses – ensuring that no data breaches of any kind whether through technological vulnerability or human error ensues.
Depending on the industries your clients belong to; it is important that you value all aspects of their partnerships – including any exclusivity or competing clauses they may have. When choosing a partner, it is important that you check your existing client database’s rules and regulations and select one with no conflict with any client.
Furthermore, while you are engaged with a part-time CFO support provider, your firm should be responsible and integrate checking for conflict when onboarding new clients. That way, your clients will feel respected and valued, paving the way for a healthy working relationship that lasts.
Last but not least, it is important that as you consider outsourced CFOs, you are not crippling your firm’s finances or taking funds that should be allocated elsewhere. When planning growth-driven initiatives such as optimizing your financial management through outsourced support, it is important to take a step back and assess your firm’s position.
Determine the amount or the budget you can healthily allocate for this venture and stick to it – finding a partner who can work with the amount you give, providing you with quality support that doesn’t break the bank.
As technology paves the way for continuous change in the finance and accounting industry, outsourcing CFO support has become an ideal strategy for those who operate within the industry to cope with the changes. Whether it be a short-term or long-term partnership, these financial experts who make it their responsibility to study every change in the industry and even prepare for forecasted changes gives you leverage not just for your own operations but for your clients as well.
Consider D&V Philippines. We are a business process outsourcing company specializing in finance and accounting solutions that offers comprehensive CFO support services to assist with the back-end needs of a finance chief.
You may talk directly to our expert today and let us lend you a helping hand to your task. You may also download our “Premium CFO Solutions” whitepaper today and learn how our finance and accounting professionals can help you attain your goals.
This post was first published 05 June 2020 and edited 03 March 2025. Edited by: Aly Tagamolila