The President of Peanut Corporation of America recently appeared before a bankruptcy court in Vicksburg, VA to answer questions about his company's bankruptcy due to troubling safety and hygiene practices, and the resultant salmonella outbreak nationwide. His trusted advisor was also present - who happened to be his daughter, the company's book-keeper!  Asked at one point whether the company that had nearly $20 million in sales last year paid any dividends to its shareholders - namely, the President and his partners - she replied, "What's a dividend?"

So how much is not having a CFO costing you?

In a excellent recent article on the Chief Executive Blog, Terry Weaver explores how not recognizing the need for and value of a CFO can kill your company.  If you don't have timely financials you trust - how can you begin to manage your business?  It's not just that your financials may not tell you much.  Often they are telling you the wrong things.  "Not having rock-solid, timely financials is like flying with no altimeter, no compass and no artificial horizon. The FAA won't allow that, and for good reason. Those pilots crash."  Terry reminds us that "failure to fully understand the company's financials is one of the top 3 causes of small business failure."

And you should not think that this is your CPA's job.   As Terry says, "That's an unrealistic expectation for at least two reasons. First, although there are a lot of exceptions, most CPAs do not have CFO experience. They report the news, they don't forecast or shape the news. Secondly, it's generally not their job, as they perceive it. If you hire them to prepare monthly statements and do your taxes, they actually believe you're going to read (and understand) the monthly statements and that the data you gave them to prepare them was accurate. It's like wondering why the scorekeeper at a football game didn't call better plays."

B2B CFO^® offers seasoned, highly experienced part-time CFOs, so there's no excuse to run your company with blinders on.  In a sea of economic red ink, many of B2B CFO^®'s clients continue to add employees and grow sales, while having access to lines of credit, and developing company value.

Call David Kirkup, your B2B CFO^®,  for more information and a free 2 hour company evaluation on 770 845 6897.