What Is a Fractional CFO?

As a business grows, the inputs it requires evolve. The startup stage calls for inspiration and the fanatical belief that is necessary to create something from nothing.

If a small business grows long enough, it will come to a point where continued scale requires something different. With success comes the need for planning and administrative procedures. Success brings a new brand of pressure— and the need to abide by and work within a complex network of tax laws and financial systems.

For many business owners, the thought of creating financial and accounting infrastructure brings as much joy as paying taxes, speaking with auditors, and satisfying CEU requirements. For many, the burden and uncertainty that comes with investing in financial processes becomes an ongoing source of stress and anxiety. For others, it comes to be an insatiable money pit that drains focus and robs resources.

The stress is compounded by the cost and nuance involved in remedying it. You know you need a finance person, but how do you find the right person? One who is not only qualified and understands the nature of your business but can also integrate with your team and culture.

Once you narrow down the list of candidates, how do you determine fair compensation? The salary for a full time CFO ranges from $250,000 to $400,000 per year. Getting it right will make your life easier and your business more efficient. Getting it wrong will only serve to compound your situation…

Oldfather Business Solutions: Made for Your Situation

Oldfather Business Solutions partners with growing small businesses to provide fractional CFO services. Our ideal client has annual revenues that range between $3 and $30 million. Businesses within this stage often find themselves at a critical juncture. Strategic investment in financial infrastructure provides stability and creates systems that allow current growth to scale through time.

Our fractional CFOs are experienced and understand the business landscape. By deploying services on a fractional basis, Oldfather Business Solutions provides clients with plug and play expertise at a fraction of the cost of what you would pay for a full time, in-house team. Working with us also takes all the guesswork out of finding, training, and hoping that the person you hired can do what they said they could do in their interview.

In many respects Oldfather Business Solutions functions in the same way as an experienced wilderness guide. After all, wading through the complex financial and regulatory environments that come with a successful business is not unlike walking into the wilderness. In either case, having a trusted partner who knows the way (and all of their potential traps, tricks, and phantom trailheads) will not only keep you safe but make your journey faster, more efficient and more enjoyable.

There are times when life is about the journey. The financial health and the future of your business are not such times.

The Functions of Our Fractional CFOs:

Financial planning and analysis: The CFO develops and implements the company's financial strategy. This includes setting financial goals, forecasting revenue and expenses, and creating budgets.

Accounting and reporting: The CFO oversees the company's accounting and reporting functions. This ensures that the company's financial statements are accurate and compliant with all applicable regulations.

Cash flow management: The CFO is responsible for managing the company's cash flow. This ensures that the company has enough cash to meet its obligations and fund its operations.

Risk management: The CFO is responsible for identifying and managing the company's financial risks. These include market, credit, and operational risk.

Investor relations: The CFO communicates the company's financial performance to investors and other stakeholders.

Finance and Accounting team: Managing employees and 3rd party vendors (tax accountants, bankers) within the finance and accounting departments.

Help raise capital

Our Process

The first and most important step in the process involves understanding your vision for your business. After all, you know it better than anyone. You know where you’d like it to go, how you’d like it to feel. Your vision was central to making it what the business has become, it will also be the vision that defines its future trajectory.

When done right, financial strategies align with the owner’s vision. Too often, financial professionals get fixated on finance-first models that don’t match the long term goals and needs of a business.

Next, we conduct a thorough, comprehensive review of the company. This review identifies any pressing issues that require immediate attention. Potential issues range from regulatory compliance and wage-related matters to collection challenges or excessive spending on specific items. Once we get a handle on where you are now, we address and resolve any such issues.

Finally, we embark on the building phase. Our fractional CFOs will collaborate with you and the business to create the processes and procedures necessary for scale and enduring success.

In places where a suitable team doesn't exist, we’ll help you build one. If you’re leaving money on the table or could be saving more, we’ll make it happen. If refining your approach in the short term might benefit you in the long term, we’ll make appropriate suggestions.

The thing that differentiates our approach is that it is customized to the nature of your business. The solutions and processes that we create are defined by your situation. This is not cookie cutter or one-size-fits all.

It might take a bit of work from your team on the front end, but it will pay off in the long run.

You are the expert in your business. We are experts in finance. Our job is to strategically create systems and processes that leverage success as it relates to your unique situation.

After successfully implementing operational systems, we continue to manage and support you for as long as the company requires. Through the process we oversee relationships with accounting and financial stakeholders, from bankers to tax accountants.

Our work together is a two-way street. We learn about your business and you and your team will learn about financial processes. The result not only removes stress from being successful, but helps your team develop visions that include sound financial outcomes.

If we can help you remove the stress from success, give us a call. 512-825-7252