Many business leaders find themselves at a standstill with their financial management and accounting efficiencies. This can happen where they or their team lack the bandwidth with their own time and/or skill set to deal with their finances effectively. However, finances are the tell all of where your business is headed, whether it is on course for expansion and growth or continuously missing the markers. These telltale signs indicate the need for stronger financial strategies.

Your finances must remain accurate, so you have the confidence to make informed decisions that are based on facts and designed to promote ongoing success. If this isn’t the case, chances are it’s time to hire an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Here are a few more signs you need a CFO.

You should have a good handle on your financials at all times. Once it’s unclear exactly what is happening financially, you are likely losing control of the things that dictate how successful your business is performing. A CFO can help provide certainty, so you have confidence in what your numbers are telling you. This allows you to remain strategic in your decisions, proactive in your management and better able to meet your short and long-term goals.

Lack of Confidence in Your Numbers

If you can’t look at your books and know without a shadow of a doubt what you are seeing is accurate, that lack of clarity will take you away from your success. Since your numbers are the guiding lights that help you navigate the uncharted areas of your organisation’s growth, you will end up flying blind. As a result, you could be headed for a collision course with dire consequences. You need to know you can trust your numbers, so you are always in control of the decisions you make. A CFO can help ensure your numbers remain trustworthy so you can make informed decisions that are designed to fuel growth and improve profitability.

A Need to Remain Scalable

If it seems you are on track for a period of growth, but you aren’t able to determine if you have the capital and financial health to do so, once again, you lack confidence in your numbers. You need to be in a position to forecast to move the business forward and ensure your finances meet the demand of your growth strategy. A CFO can step in and provide a clear picture of your organisation’s financial health. This allows you to be more strategic in planning your financials. You can be clear on how the key decisions you need to make are going to impact the finances of the business.

Lost in Translation

Accounting and numbers can be confusing. After all, your energy levels can end up depleted when it comes to an understanding of what you are looking at. There is often much to decipher and it doesn’t help when there is some technical jargon thrown in to add to the confusion. Your CFO will be your translator who will help make sense of all the numbers. Analytics and measurements are at the heart of a strong financial strategy.

Missing even small details can lead to mistakes in calculations, whether in a cash flow analysis to make sure you can pay for your next shipment of supplies or misreading the accounts receivables and thinking you are either richer or poorer than you actually are. Unravelling the mysteries of what your numbers are telling you can prove to be one of your most valuable tools. It is one of the main skills your CFO will bring to the proverbial table.

It Seems New Customers are Costing Money

This might seem impossible but can happen more often than you realise. It’s all about scalability and what it takes to service new customers. It is very possible to take on a job or order that ends up costing you money instead of making you money. If you are getting new customers and not seeing the extra revenue translate into higher profit, you have profit margin issues. When this happens, hiring a CFO is an absolute must. A CFO is an expert who can evaluate the costs associated with servicing customers. They help you understand cost structures and determine what you should charge to make money from your efforts.

The more familiar these scenarios sound, the more urgent it is to hire a CFO. A CFO will provide information on a timely basis, so you always know where you stand. You can become more strategic, which allows you to experience growth in a way that facilitates increased profitability as well.

Bonitas Partners’ Consulting CFO accounting solution provides more than a bookkeeper. With our solution, you get senior expertise with an understanding of what requirements and operational challenges you face, whether your organisation is a publicly listed company, a smaller business or not for profit.