CFO – Settle for a good one

“Settle for a good CFO; because financial strategies can mean life or death.” In Malaysia, there should be a change in attitude already. Time and time again, excellent financial management has proven itself worthy of success and failure of a forward-thinking business. CFOs’ who are equipped with proper fiscal philosophies, financial tools, market understanding and strategic methodologies can mean a transformation in focus.

A business isn’t extended to only its operations and management roles: As the nitty gritty financial woes come along, financial planning is nonetheless crucial to the business’s growth. But are fast-growing small companies (SME/Is’) in Malaysia benefiting from clever financial handling that can help them achieve positive operational growth while brilliantly managing financial roles, mitigating risks and push for forward thinking financial planning?

Expect CFOs’ to handle the variety load of financial information already: Be it financial information mining, risk management, forecasting elements, business process methodologies and more – Now they have to handle IT solutions where technological support enhances and transforms tedious financial processes that affects a large number of business functions in a company.

Don’t wait to consider all the factors – Let the CFO assess your company first.

Roles of a CFO

CFOs’ have evolved over time – Not that its basic responsibilities are shaken off, but has changed rapidly to suit growing demands of a forward-thinking business. Other than just addressing financial processes, they now look into fiscal matters surrounding business environments, quickly tackle current and upcoming issues while closely monitoring financial performance through excellent financial management tools such as XBRL.

Their goals are simple: Increase shareholders’ value, maximize sales returns, mitigate risks and perform basic acquisition operations. From restructuring financial processes bottom up to reviewing cost control measures taken, small businesses can very well benefit from:

Fresh, new start of good financial management culture whether in accounting or finance departments.
Develop strategic financial plans that can positively affect bottom-line performances (not just through operations).
Raise funds and/or restructure business processes through takeovers, M&A and acquisitions at an early stage.
Identify capital spendings to create future benefits (risk management involved) at an early stage.

To further explain the more technical details of a CFOs’ job scope:

CFOs’ often start from the Accounting/HR department, where they look closely into historical financial reports and current ones. Rearranging, clearing up petty issues and making the accounts current.
For a process like this that can take from 3-9 months depending on the size of the company and its back-log lags, minor financial administration processes are first solved.
Legal & tax compliances are often focused. Accounts auditing will often address issues such as internal controls, possible benefits and reporting loops that can be further improved.
Once a solid foundation of financial management is found and accounts are current, CFOs’ take businesses to a new level – Where benchmarking of financial performance, strategic business process management techniques are applied onto departments such as tax, risk management, cashflow, budgeting, etc.
Any actions further than the one above is often funding acquisition, financial data collection or merger and acquisition (M&A) activities.

CFO Services for Small Businesses

Often, people associate acquiring CFOs’ to expensive and possibly not a worthwhile ‘purchase’ for small businesses. CFO KL Management Services would like to think NOT so – The above article has explained to you why small businesses SHOULD hire a CFO early – Because strong business presence and quick growth often reflect to how sturdy or steady its financial management are: And if you want to do it right, do it right EARLY.

KLM offers affordable CFO services in Malaysia and a free consultation on top of that. Contact us to find out more.