Remember the early days of your business? Those first weeks or even months when you were completely focused on bringing your unique services to the world? When most business owners start a company, they enjoy the excitement of setting up an office. They love discovering talented people to add to their staff. Planning their services brings enjoyment. They can’t wait to show the world their expertise. Then, they celebrate their first customer as a joyous event. Everything is new and interesting. In short, starting a new business is incredibly fun.
After a while, though, the reality sets in. Yes, you can bring your unique services and expertise to the market. However, small business accounting takes up more time and brainpower than you ever imagined. What’s more, the burden of crunching numbers and dealing with the financial aspects of running the business can take you away from the business activities you love most. When that happens, hiring a virtual CFO can change everything. Then, with an expert assisting you with the financials, you can get back to the fun things again!
Could a virtual CFO make running your business fun again? Absolutely! To find out how, contact Financial Optics today.
What a Virtual CFO Does
To put it simply, a virtual CFO does the same things as a CFO that works directly for you in your office. One difference is that they work remotely, so you don’t have the office expenses you would have with an employee. You also don’t have the added expense of paying them benefits. However, their activities for you are nearly identical to an in-house CFO.
Here are some ways a virtual CFO can help you.
- Manage your in-house or outsourced bookkeepers to ensure your data is accurate and entered in a timely manner.
- Oversee all your small business accounting services and provide insights based on their findings.
- Act as a sounding board when you are struggling with financial issues.
- Be your financial coach as you seek to build and grow your company.
- Provide the right blend of financial expertise and knowledge of your individual company.
- Show you how to cut waste to boost your profit margin.
- Determine the essential key metrics to measure for your business and oversee the monitoring process.
- Interpret all the financial data gathered and calculated for your business.
- Manage your budgeting.
- Assist with your annual strategic planning.
Sometimes, your virtual CFO will also help with other tasks. Here are a few you might ask a virtual CFO about before you hire them if these tasks are important to you.
- Engage in some fundraising tasks.
- Oversee small business accounting software and IT systems.
- Attend board meetings.
- Provide some advice and analysis for mergers and acquisitions.
What You Can Do When You Have a Virtual CFO
Now, let’s get on to the fun part. What can you do when you rely on a virtual CFO to deal with most of your financial management? You can spend more of your time in ways that interest you and that you enjoy. You can get back to focusing on the reasons you went into business in the first place.
Stay Focused on Your Clients
Running a business can be divided into two main parts: the outward-facing side and the inward-facing side. The inward-facing side includes the business activities you do to manage, monitor, and plan for your business success. The outward-facing side is also crucial to your business success, but it is all about attracting, serving, and retaining clients.
All too often, businesses have to focus so intently on what is happening within their business, including their financials, that they don’t have adequate resources to take care of their clients. If you feel you are being forced by circumstances to put too much of your time and talent into the financial aspects of your business, it drains the fun out of every day.
However, with a virtual CFO, you can put more emphasis on providing your clients with excellent services while the financial expert deals with many of the inward-facing activities. You can build the relationships you want with clients and your community much more easily.
Do What You Do Best
Chances are, you have a high level of expertise in the industry of your business. You may have started with a related degree, specialized training, or years of experience. However, even if you simply started with an amazing idea, you will have gained expertise as you set up and began to run your business.
The thing to remember is that most people love doing what they are good at doing. If you know things about your industry that most people aren’t aware of, it’s natural to want to put that knowledge to use. Not only that, but if you spent time developing this expertise, you likely did it partly because you found it fun and interesting.
The good news is that once you have a virtual CFO to count on, you can relax and do what makes you happy. That is, you can do the things that allow you to shine. Then, not only will your work be more fun, but your confidence will soar.
Be More Creative
Small business owners are typically very creative people. After all, they built an entire business out of a mere idea. Unfortunately, when the stress and overwork of dealing with financial issues become too great, it can dampen your ability to think creatively.
Yet, you need that creative insight to plan for business growth and expansion. If you want to offer more services, you will have to dream up those new features and devise ways to implement them. If you want to reach a wider target audience, you will need to brainstorm ways to make it happen. Even routine strategic planning requires new ways of thinking.
However, your virtual CFO will relieve much of the burden of analyzing, assessing, and dealing with financial considerations. They will help you with planning, too, giving you the facts and advice that you need, freeing you to think outside the box. In addition, their assistance will give you more space to concentrate on the creative processes of building a better business.
Run a Lean Operation
With the current state of the economy and business expenses rising, many companies are moving towards lean operations. They want to cut out unnecessary expenses to conserve their funds for the things that matter most. This is especially true as businesses are trying to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
With a virtual CFO on your side, you can reduce the cost of having the support and advice of a financial office. Then, you can funnel those savings into the business activities that grow your business sustainably.
Rediscover the Fun with Your Virtual CFO at Financial Optics
Today, you have the opportunity to hire an experienced virtual CFO to help you get back to the fun parts of running your business. At Financial Optics, we offer a wide range of small business accounting services – from outsourced bookkeepers to outsourced accounting services to a virtual CFO.
Our accounting business, based in Overland Park, Kansas, is headed by Tim Sernett, a talented CPA with over 30 years in the business. We cater especially to technology companies, B2B serviced-based businesses, and other companies on the track for growth. If you are interested in increasing profits, developing better processes, and getting back to the fun of running your business, we are here to help you achieve your goals.
Is it time to get back to what you love best about your business? If so, reach out to Financial Optics for help with financial services now.