Virtual finance director

A virtual finance director is not a one-off consultation or a report. It is a role: somebody who owns the company’s financial picture each month and takes part in the decisions where a mistake is expensive. Unlike financial analysis and financial planning, which are discrete pieces of work, this is a function that keeps running.

The format comes out of simple arithmetic. A business whose decisions already involve serious money needs a finance director, but not for five days a week. Keeping one on the payroll is expensive; going without one is more expensive still.

What the role covers

• monthly management reporting, assembled so that decisions can actually be taken from it;
• cash control, with warning of a coming gap while there is still time;
• the budget, and plan against outcome with the variances explained;
• profitability by line and the cost of sales;
• a seat at the decisions: purchasing, pricing, entering a new line, raising finance;
• preparing figures for a bank, an investor or a partner;
• setting up management accounting where none exists yet.

Who it suits

Companies that have outgrown the stage where the owner keeps every number in their head, but have not yet grown into a full-time finance director. Businesses with several legal entities or lines, where the overall picture does not assemble itself. Companies preparing to raise investment or a loan. And those whose bookkeeping is perfectly sound but cannot answer the question of what the business really earns – because that is not what bookkeeping is for.

How it works in practice

We begin by assembling the present picture: what the books hold, which data is missing, which decisions are currently taken blind. Then we agree a rhythm – usually a monthly report and a meeting, plus contact in between when something comes up.

Because the bookkeeping and the finance function sit in the same hands here, the data does not have to be reconciled between two suppliers, and the tax consequences of any decision are visible immediately.

What the fee depends on

Scope follows the number of legal entities in the perimeter, the state of the books at the start, the depth of reporting required and how often we meet. Building management accounting from nothing is a separate stage, quoted before it begins.

Common questions

How is this different from a chief accountant?

An accountant is responsible for the books being correct and the returns going in on time. A finance director is responsible for decisions being well founded: what a line actually costs, whether the company can carry a loan, what price to sell at. They are different professions, and one does not substitute for the other.

Are you replacing our accountant?

No. We work with whatever accounting exists – yours or ours. If we keep the books as well, the data simply assembles faster.

How much time do you give the company?

As much as the agreed scope requires. The rhythm is fixed in the contract, so there is no situation where one side assumed constant availability and the other did not.

Can we start small?

Yes. It often starts with setting up management reporting and one monthly report, and widens once it is clear which decisions are actually short of information.