The awareness of the Fractional CFO service model has grown over the past decade. Entrepreneurs and small business owners have benefited from the skills a Chief Financial Officer bring to a growing or transitioning company. 

Fractional CFOs have filled a serious void. Here are some of the key skills and talents that a Fractional CFO provides to small business owners:

1. 1. 1. Financial Strategist for Your Business: Business owners who are strong at their craft are not likely to have prior experience working at a Fortune 500 organization. As a result, these entrepreneurs cannot deploy, or are not capable of deploying, a financial strategy that will guide them to fulfill their company’s mission and goals. Fractional CFOs provide the financial blueprint for these business owners. 
      2. Financial Grown-up in the Room: Whether you’re presenting to potential investors or to a banker and potential lender, lenders feel more comfortable providing money to companies who have the right financial leadership. Experienced FractionalCFOs will have the ability to cogently convey the financial mission of your company and how you can become profitable and cash flow positive.
      3. Breadth of Experience: Fractional CFOs will be able to adapt to your changing business needs. The right Fractional CFO will be able to use technology such as Excel and NetSuite to create a formal budget and forecast. A Fractional CFO will also be able to negotiate contracts with significant vendors and review potential acquisitions. At any given point in time, you will need to lean on your finance leader to provide this guidance. When you hire a full-time CFO, you will be looking for the skills that you need at the present moment without regard for the future. Instead, by hiring the right Fractional CFO, he or she will grow with you and will have a wide swath of experience and skill set that will be able to provide you with the mentorship needed for a variety of financial issues. Because Fractional CFOs have had experience working at a variety of different companies, they are well-rounded. 
      4. Cost-Effective: Today the median salary of a full-time CFO for companies that will generate 100 million in revenue or less is around $400,000. We are not questioning the value of a full-time CFO, but rather if a growing firm with 10 million revenue can afford the burden of such a hefty salary. A Fractional CFO provides the same, or better, value to business owners without having to deal with the benefits and compliance burdens that come with hiring a high-salaried executive. Having a Fractional CFO in an advisory role will enable you to cost effectively pay for counsel in a more focused fashion. 
      5. Team: When you hire AcceleratingCFO, you’re not hiring a person, you’re hiring a team. You have the benefit of a wide-range of strengths and areas of focus. Whether you need an individual knowledgeable in US Gap or perhaps a spreadsheet jockey to create financial models, the right firm will bring more than one person to the table. The team concept serves as a great insurance policy when life happens and ensures that tight deadlines can be met with additional, available resources.

Take-away: If you haven’t done your research on what a Fractional CFO firm does or how we can help, what are you waiting for? Reach out to Brian at info@acceleartingcfo.com to discuss how we can help you reach your fullest potential.