Business Owners: When was the last time you reviewed how effective your Finance Department is?

A lot of business owners say they want to grow, scale, and take on a Finance Director who will help drive their business forward and provide real strategic advice on the numbers.

But when we look more closely the foundations just are not there yet.

For some, “accounting” still means having a meeting with their accountant once a year and having a review of the previous year’s performance.

Meanwhile:

Books aren’t properly reconciled.

Month ends are slow, irregular and error prone.

Management Accounts are inaccurate and can’t be trusted.

There is a lack of internal control.

The business is profitable but cashflow is chaotic.

There are no financial projections.

Here’s the reality:

A lot of businesses do not have a fully resourced Finance team or, their team doesn’t have the right composition. This can cause processes to slip. You cannot expect a reliable Finance Controller or Finance Director to thrive with poor accounting records.

Forecasting doesn’t work without clean historic numbers.

Strategy falls apart without reliable data to work with.

Growth is much harder when the basics are broken, therefore:

Foster a team that is fully engaged in the drive to make your business a success.

Make sure you invest the time in making sure your financial systems are slick, fit for purpose and fully utilised. 

Recruit a talented Finance Controller to eliminate the chaos and drive accuracy in the numbers and reporting.

Recruit a talented Finance Director when finance becomes a decision-making bottleneck and you need a trusted strategic advisor, someone who can deal with external stakeholders such as banks, investors, Private Equity and drive growth.