The busy schedule of a CFO leaves little time to invest in researching new growth opportunities and simultaneously managing the financial health of a company. Successful CFOs often seek fractional controller services to allow them time for more important tasks related to financial performance.
What Do Fractional Controller Services Entail?
Regardless of a company’s size or financial standing, managing the timeliness and accuracy of its financial performance is essential. Outsourced or fractional controllers can help you do just that. Moreover, they deliver financial results and information required to make effective financial decisions. Ultimately, their efforts are reflected in the growth and sustainability of the company.
Some of the specific duties of a fractional controller include the following:
- Report financial results to ensure strategic and timely business decisions
- Work with the legal team to ensure compliance with local and federal laws
- Administer collections, payments, and cash management
- Provide external parties and shareholders with financial information
- Establish and execute internal accounting procedures within the company
- Manage tax and treasury responsibilities
- Create and manage budget schedules
- Oversee day-to-day operations of finance functions
- Develop a business plan geared towards growth and business success
When to Use Fractional Controller Services
Time is an irreplaceable resource, so CFOs rely on financial controllers for efficiency. They delegate specific tasks to deliver successful business outcomes and cultivate new and improved investor relationships. Fractional controller services can help by eliminating time constraints to deliver better results.
These are signs indicating that a CFO may require a fractional controller:
- The organization is experiencing a transition involving the CFO
- ROI is on the decline
- Changes in the corporate playbook due to industry disruptions
- Scaling is needed for new or existing product lines being introduced into new markets
- Legislation against the business requires more time from the CFO
- The business has achieved a new financial benchmark
In addition to these circumstances, other situations requiring increased focus from the CFO may benefit from fractional controller services to ensure sustainability and progress.
CFOs can leverage various strategies to eliminate time constraints. Common time-management strategies adopted by CFOs include routinization, scheduling, time screening, and task delegation to controllers. These strategies have led to a dramatic change in the traditional role and duties of a CFO. Tasks previously handled by CFOs are increasingly being delegated to financial controllers to ensure quick and accurate results. In other words, CFOs are focusing on high-priority tasks that add value to the organization, while fractional controllers work to streamline financial functions.
Are you seeing a decline in ROI, or perhaps your company is growing, and your new financial benchmark is creating new tax compliance requirements to adhere to? Windes will take charge of managing your financial and accounting operations and deliver a level of expertise that allows for greater financial visibility. Connect with us today to get help navigating your growth so you stay compliant with new tax laws without growing your finance team.
How Do Fractional Controller Services Benefit Businesses?
Fractional controller services can be the key to exponential business growth. In addition to freeing up the CFO’s schedule and allowing more focus on growth-oriented activities, fractional controller services can help your company on several other levels. The following are other reasons why you may want to consider hiring a fractional controller.
Reduce Training Costs
The cost of hiring, training, and retaining a full-time controller adds up quickly. Moreover, despite high salary packages, this approach does not necessarily ensure efficacy or quality.
Fractional controllers cost one-third or less than hiring and retaining an internal, on-site employee. Furthermore, it eliminates training costs. Opting for a fractional controller is more cost-effective for most businesses than employing a full-time in-house controller.
Financial Expertise
Fractional controller services allow you the flexibility to choose from a wide variety of experience levels, while hiring a single controller may only provide you with expertise in one area. Needs can change, and having the ability to shift between multiple people specializing in different areas is more effective and efficient. Furthermore, you can skip added expenses, such as benefits packages and incentives. Opting for fractional controller services can be the optimal approach to meet your specialized needs over time.
Access to Financial Tools
Why incur the additional cost of financial software when many outsourcing arrangements can include access to tools and software not readily available within your organization? Access to newer, cutting-edge financial software and those who know how to use it can improve bookkeeping management, key metric benchmarking, cash flow management, reporting, audit preparation, job costing, and inventory tracking.
Protection against Fraudulent Activities
The financial activities of any company require stringent supervision to reduce the risk of fraud. Outsourcing offers fresh eyes that can help catch errors missed by invested employees. Also, the opportunities for external security breaches and internal cover-ups by disloyal employees are significantly reduced.
Fewer Distractions
Outsourced staff always keep their eyes on the goal. Since most of their work is performed off-site, they are not easily distracted by office politics or workplace drama.
The Bottom Line
Fractional controller services can help streamline financial functions to ensure maximum productivity and progress.
Are you seeking better insights from custom reports to make more informed business decisions? Do you want to grow your business without growing your in-house finance team? Learn how Windes fractional controller services can help.
About Windes Advisory Services
Windes offers a number of financial advisory services designed to meet the unique and evolving needs of each and every client we serve. We are committed to providing customized plans that fit your needs, meet your budget, and propel your business to new heights of success. Whether your business needs more strategic financial planning or back-office transactional support, Windes has the outsourced accounting solutions to fill the gaps to meet your needs. Connect with us today to get started.