CFO Services
The CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, is the highest ranking financial official in a company. The CFO makes financial appropriations, authorizes expenditures and helps with significant decision making on both a strategic and tactical level. The CFO is the person primarily responsible for financial planning and record-keeping. The CFO typically reports to the Chief Executive Officer, and is often a member of the board of directors. The CFO helps management anticipate cash needs for different revenue forecasts. Anticipating and managing cash needs helps you to avoid a cash shortage and secure added financing from your banker and others when needed. The controller reports to the CFO.
A CFO should have these characteristics:
- Understanding of your business and the market dynamics of the industry
- Flexibility
- An analytic focus
- Communication and team-building skills
- Understanding of the customer’s needs
- Human resource knowledge
- Ability to lead
- Integrity
- Legal knowledge
- Operational experience
In addition to finance and accounting the CFO often will have responsibility for human resources and legal. As your part-time CFO we can be a liaison between your company and external CPA’s, bankers, investors etc.
We keep current on new tax legislation and work closely with the tax preparer to coordinate tax return preparation and to achieve optimal tax planning for your company.
We will provide you monthly financial statements and analysis, will improve your revenues and profits, and negotiate with bankers and vendors. We’ll meet with you and your management team to review operations and answer any questions.
Controller Services
Controller services that we can provide include:
- Managing the accounting staff. In small companies the entire accounting staff may be one bookkeeper using QuickBooks. Your company can still gain a benefit by using CFO Relief as your part time controller just a few hours a month and keeping your bookkeeper and existing staff.
- Managing your accounts payable, accounts receivable, taxes and payroll.
- Preparing financial reports for the management team and the Board of Directors.
- Help to organize your company’s data for fundraising opportunities before the data is needed quickly by the lenders and investors.
- Help to make sure information is collected and organized properly and on time for the preparation of all tax returns.
- Install business process improvements.
- Review and improve operational procedures.
- Manage service providers (audit, benefits, insurance, legal, lending, payroll, real estate, taxes)
- Ideas and suggestions to boost revenues and monitor/control expenses.
Read about the different categories of services that we can provide: Planning, Analysis, Operations, Human Resources, and Financing.
Steve is available to join your company’s Board of Directors or Board of Advisors.