Can A Fractional Finance Director Help Achieve Growth?

One of the new trends we’re seeing in the finance market has been the rise of the fractional finance director. A fractional finance director is a part-time member of the team hired on a contractual basis. This director is then able to share experience in finance, strategic planning and other finance-related activities. Hiring a fractional finance director can help the business to reduce costs whilst also enabling you to access high levels of strategic planning, cash flow, advisory and financial analysis skills that would otherwise be too costly. 

No doubt having a fractional finance director gives you access to financial resources at a much lower price point than most alternatives to strengthening your finance team. A fractional finance director will give you a good mix of strategic financial guidance with the ability to be flexible as your business grows. 

Is your business ready for a fractional finance director?

If you’re rapidly growing, you might be considering hiring one. There is no perfect one-size-fits-all solution for a finance team. Each business is different. However, when considering a change in your team you need to determine: 

• How will the operations team react? Finance and operations need to go hand-in-hand to drive the business forward. Finance cannot operate in silos, or it restricts the ability of operational teams to grow the business. Equally, finance teams can provide insight on profitable growth to sustain the working capital of the business. 
• What expertise does the business have in-house? Finance teams can be blended to have a mix of employed and virtual teams. This allows your business to have an unrestricted talent pool. 
• Are you ready to invest? Change in your finance team requires an investment of time to get it to work. 

It’s also important to remember that in doing so you will only be bringing one extra person to the team. As a result, you will be limited by both the knowledge and experience of that person. When I ran finance teams in the industry it was always a balancing act between cost, expertise and availability. The best examples of finance teams are ones where the load is spread, there isn’t a single point of failure, and they can provide operational support to the business. What is the key point? Team. 

Teams Vs Fractional Directors

Teams can provide a fully integrated service. The more people you have access to within your daily environment the more likely you are to brainstorm ideas, challenge the status quo, address issues with systems and enable a collaborative culture with the business. As part of the virtual finance team, we have access to 40+ finance, industry professionals who are flexible and able to react to service the needs of the businesses we work with. 

The flexibility of teams is something that VFF enables businesses to draw on resources as they need them without losing any continuity of teams.  By having a main point of contact your business can pull on the resources of a large firm for all expert advice and isn’t limited by one person’s expertise or having to use multiple firms. 

How Can AAB help?

Here are just some of the benefits your business can to gain through our VFF service: 

• A fully bespoke solution tailored precisely around your requirements. 
• Delivered by experienced specialists who take care of your vital finance services. 
• We manage the entire transition process, including training if required. 
• You’ll get easy access to invaluable real-time financial information on your business. 
• We will take care of regulatory and tax compliance. 
• Easy, continual access to experts who’ll answer your financial queries. 
• Adapts to your business circumstances, whether upscaling or downscaling. 
• Integrates with your existing culture and workflow. 
• Allows you to concentrate on running and growing your business. 
• Can avoid the need to release equity to attract key finance staff. 
• Frees up money that can be better spent on driving your business forward. 
• A highly cost-effective way to ease your workload and optimise your performance. 
• Access to experts across the UK and Island of Ireland 

If you have any queries about the support and help our virtual finance team can deliver for you please do not hesitate to get in contact with Lauren McIlroy, or your usual AAB contact.