Your weekly go-to guide to transform your finance function into a strategic powerhouse.
Welcome CFO Techstack Community đ,
In last weekâs newsletter we wrapped up our New Year, New You series with key takeaways and actionable insights to help you transform your month-end process for good.
In this weekâs feature, we turn our focus to a dynamic shift in financial leadershipâthe rise of the Fractional CFO.
FEATURED ARTICLE
The Rise of the Fractional CFO
Welcome to our first newsletter in our series on Fractional CFOs! We're diving into what a fractional CFO is, what they do, and why more businesses are turning to them.
What is a Fractional CFO?
Imagine having a seasoned financial expert on your team without hiring a full-time executive. Thatâs what a fractional CFO is all about. They work part-time, on a project basis, or even as an interim solution to bring high-level financial guidance to your business.
In essence, fractional CFOs offer:
Strategic planning: Helping craft long-term financial strategies that align with your business goals.
Budgeting and forecasting: Creating reliable budgets and forecasts to guide decision-making.
Cash Flow management: Keeping an eye on cash flow to ensure smooth operations.
Risk management: Spotting potential financial pitfalls and suggesting ways to avoid them.
Performance analysis: Breaking down financial data to help you understand your business better.
What do they do?
A fractional CFO wears many hats. They might help streamline your financial operations, set up better reporting systems, or even assist with fundraising efforts. Their real strength lies in offering expert advice without the long-term commitment of a full-time CFO. This flexibility allows businesses to tap into top-tier financial expertise precisely when they need it.
Why are Fractional CFOs gaining popularity?
Several factors are fueling the rise of fractional CFOs.
From a business perspective:
Evolving business needs: In todayâs fast-changing market, companies need adaptable financial strategies. Fractional CFOs provide that agility.
Cost efficiency: Not every business can afford a full-time CFO. A fractional approach offers the same expertise at a fraction of the cost.
Specialised skills: With the increasing complexity of financeâfrom compliance to data analyticsâhaving a specialist can make all the difference.
Scalability: Whether youâre a startup or a growing business, a fractional CFO can adjust their involvement to suit your needs.
Focus on core business: By handing over the financial heavy lifting, business owners can concentrate more on what they do best.
From a finance professionalâs perspective:
Enhanced flexibility: Enjoy the freedom to choose projects and work on your own terms without the long-term commitment of a full-time role.
Diverse industry exposure: Gain experience across various sectors and companies, broadening your expertise and expanding your professional network.
Work-Life balance: Reduce the intense pressure of a single-company environment while still making a significant strategic impact.
Whatâs coming up next
In our upcoming deep dives, weâll explore the world of fractional CFOs even further. Weâre excited to share tips and tricks from industry experts like Andy Collier, Head of Brand Experience at The CFO Centre, who brings over 15 years of insight; Joe Newbold, a fractional CFO/FD for startups and scaleups who has collaborated with over 100 companies and founder of Control Room Finance; and Ryan Pearcy, founder of Digital Transformers UK, with more than 14 years of experience helping business owners grow. Their expert advice will offer you practical strategies and real-world success stories to navigate todayâs evolving financial landscape.
The role of the fractional CFO is a game-changer in modern finance. As businesses navigate todayâs challenges and opportunities, having flexible, expert financial advice can be a major asset. Weâre excited to explore more stories, tips and tricks in our upcoming newsletters to show you how this approach is transforming the finance industry.
COMMUNITY INSIGHTS
đ¤ How I stacked it
Simon Metcalf, Head of Finance at Belport, shares their tech stack
Belport is a group of professionals with entrepreneurial principles, their driving ambition is to disrupt the conventional approach to rural investment and asset management.
They seek alignment with their capital partners by tailoring management strategies to suit their return requirements and ownership horizons, priding themselves on their ability to adapt to the changing legislative, environmental and macroeconomic landscape. They actively manages over 35,000 acres with around ÂŁ400m AUM.
Simon told us, âA typical day involves a blend of financial management, team coordination, project oversight, and clear communication to (hopefully) keep things running smoothly and efficiently. We regularly run appraisals for new investments, collaborate closely with the operations team, and keep investors informed with regular reporting. And if time allows, we dive into the Xero ecosystem.â
Here's what Simon and their team are using:
ApprovalMax for Financial Controls:ApprovalMax has been fantastic for empowering our teams on the groundâfarm workers, surveyors, and directorsâto approve invoices on the go. This has significantly sped up our payment runs and reduced the number of accruals needed for management accountsâa true win-win!
Mayday for Intercompany:Mayday gives us peace of mind, knowing we can easily keep track of our intercompany position. In the coming months, weâll be looking to fully utilize the Recharger function.
Moss for Card Solutions:Moss keeps us agile with card solutions while providing an efficient way to track spending across approximately 30 individuals across our entities. Missing receipts and delays in receiving information are now a thing of the past!
Mimo for Payment Solutions:Mimo has significantly streamlined our payment solutions. Our wider team previously spent over 100 hours a month managing ÂŁ500k in weekly payment runsânow, Iâd estimate itâs below 15 hours, with no loss of control.
Connectorly for PowerBI Reporting:Connectorly seamlessly integrates our data into Power BI, enabling us to dynamically business partner across the organization. Itâs a real time saver for producing internal reports!
Joiin for Consolidation: Weâre relatively new to Joiin, but weâve already started using it to streamline our consolidated reporting processes.
Get ready AustraliaâStacked 2025 is coming to Sydney!
The ultimate event for in-house finance teams! Gear up for a massive day, full of insightful speakers, incredible tech exhibitors and unmatched peer to peer networking. This is the event of the year for in-house finance teams!
Expect incredible speakers like:
Kicking off our first panel, Inspiring CFO Journeys, we'll hear from Rob and other exceptional finance leaders who have built extraordinary careers as they share their journey. If you're looking for thought leadership and career inspiration, this is a session you won't want to miss!
Cutting-edge exhibitors like:
xpna is a 3rd generation FP&A platform leveraging Excel and Power BI for powerful and intuitive reporting, modelling and planning.
Customers can consolidate any number of ledgers from Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Intacct and others, as well as importing operational data from other sources into a single, unified tool.
THE STACK EXCHANGE
𧾠This week's top threads, from The Stack Exchange
The Stack Exchange is a Slack forum for connecting with peers, sharing insights, and staying updated on apps and industry eventsâhelping you transform your finance function into a strategic powerhouse.
Here are this week's top 3 discussions from The Stack Exchange:
Multi-entity organisations face challenges in managing complex financial structures. Far too often, they have to deal with delayed reporting and disparate systems. This makes it hard to see clearly across operations and gain access to the data and real-time insights they need to scale effectively. Not only does this hold them back, but manual processes increase the risk of errors and create bottlenecks that slow down important decision-making.
This webinar will explore the critical role CFOs play in leading data transformation initiatives that not only streamline operations but also unlock new revenue streams and generate cost savings across the organisation. Attendees will gain practical insights on where to start, how to select best projects and best practises to lead data transformation and align financial objectives with broader business goals.
Are you losing sleep over decisions like hiring, expansion, or unexpected costs? It's time to turn those worries into confidence. Join us on 27th February for our latest webinar, Practical Forecasting: How to answer six questions that keep business owners up at night.
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