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The idea of hiring even a part-time CFO may seem to some SMEs a bit OTT—like paying Quentin Tarantino to make a 90-second home page video or booking Wembley Stadium for the company’s five-a-side friendly football match.

But for companies whose ambition is to get into and survive the coveted scale-up phase, hiring a part-time CFO makes perfect sense. They know that they’re getting a finance veteran, someone with big business experience, who can provide the guidance they need to grow rapidly and help them to avoid the costly mistakes that so many ambitious SMEs make as they attempt to move into the Big League.

You might think a Chief Financial Officer role is confined to traditional finance activities, but today’s CFO can do so much more than count beans.
In the past, a CFO’s responsibilities might have been confined to high-level accounting such as providing timely financial statements and monthly management reports, managing investments and expenses, monitoring cash flow, and managing risk. But as the business landscape has become more complex over the past decade, the role of a CFO has changed.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already transforming the way in which financial service companies are doing business.

More and more of them are using AI to process information on their customers, cut costs, save time, monitor behavior patterns, assess credit quality, automate client interactions, analyze markets, assess data quality and detect fraud.

A PwC Digital IQ 2017 survey found that 72% of business decision makers believe AI will be the business advantage of the future.[1] About 52% said they’re currently making “substantial investments” in AI,

You shouldn’t be surprised to discover that Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Hugh Jackman, Gary Oldman among many other Oscar-winning actors and actresses bear a grudge against Chief Financial Officers.

It’s easy to understand why. While the likes of Streep and Oldman have achieved fame, fortune and critical acclaim, they can usually only inhabit one role at a time. They take it on for a few months and then move on to the next.

If you’re looking for a quick way to cut costs, boost efficiency and improve productivity, then consider outsourcing one or more of your business’ support processes.

Outsourcing has many benefits and can give you a greater competitive edge in your market.

It allows you to tap into a large international talent pool and benefit from external expertise. Your outsourced providers can provide services, innovative approaches, and the latest technology along with cutting-edge solutions that your in-house team might be unable to provide.

The CFO Center has put its money where its mouth is. We’ve hired our own Part Time CFO!

The CFO Center has been steadily growing across the US over the last couple years.  We felt it was time to hire our own part time CFO to oversee our finance function.  We’ve brought on Vince Arnette from our South Florida team.   Vince has 30 years of experience in both start ups and in multinational public companies. 

Managing cash flow is critical to the success of any business. Get it right, and shareholders, creditors, and employees are happy. Get it wrong, and the company could end up on the ropes.

Cash flow problems can perplex even profitable companies, particularly those experiencing rapid growth.

So, how do you protect your company from future cash flow issues?

Cut Costs 

Cost-cutting will have a more immediate impact on your bottom line than revenue-raising efforts.