The Role of the Finance Director
The role of the finance director varies considerably from company to company depending on the size of the organisation, its strategy and what stage of the business lifecycle the company is at.
In very broad terms however, the finance director will take responsibility for all financial aspects of company strategy and for the flow of financial information to the chief executive, the board and, where necessary, external parties such as investors or financial institutions.
The role has a very broad remit that takes the finance director into every part of the business. For a commercial enterprise, the amount of profit or loss you make is a way of keeping score and the most objective measure of your success. Because ultimately the consequences of every decision you take in your business are measured in financial terms.
So whether it’s a better understanding of your market and the competition, the development of a medium term strategic plan for your business, the production of a budget for the next 24 months or a cash flow forecast for the next 13 weeks, your finance director will be involved.
If you are expanding and need access to fresh capital, the involvement of an experienced finance director will be absolutely invaluable to you as not only will he or she be heavily involved in producing the business plans needed to secure the new funds but the very fact that you have a qualified, experienced finance professional on your team will lend credibility to your application. And on top of that, your finance director will have an extensive network of contacts that could open up sources of finance to you that you otherwise might not be aware of.
Your finance director will also add a lot of value in your daily operations. Every qualified accountant has a strong grounding in financial and business controls, and risk management. This is an area where new businesses are traditionally quite weak. To be fair, when it was just you, or just you and a trusted partner, and all your focus was on developing your business idea and bringing it to market, there wasn’t a great need for a fully developed controls environment. And no SME business wants to become over burdened with bureaucracy. But as your business grows and you recruit more staff, your ability to control everything diminishes and the need to establish processes and procedures with an appropriate level of inbuilt risk management becomes more apparent.
Find out more
For a free, no obligation introductory chat to find out how I can add value to your SME, working with you to regain control, and regain your passion for your business, please give me a call on 07740 800986, or email me via the contact form with your contact details and I will get straight back to you
