"Why Do I Need to Outsource Anything?"

Now, that's a good question. After all, you're probably an entrepreneur and, as such, you are a successful individual who can handle many different aspects of the company. You came up with the initial concept of your company, right? And perhaps you built it from the ground up. You are also the best salesperson for the company. Sure, you had to hire additional salespeople, but you may feel no one is as good at selling as the owner… (and you may be right).

But, at some point, you have found (or you will find) you can’t have your fingers on everything in the company. The first time you see this may be when your employees cannot create or manufacture the product or provide the service you wish they could. It is just not the way you would do it. You may step in to demonstrate how it should be done.

Later, you'll look at the financial results and wonder why you didn’t achieve the results you thought you would. This may come as a surprise when your outside CPA prepares your tax return. You may say to yourself, "Why didn't I know this sooner?" or "Wasn't there anything I could have done to improve my results?”

If this sounds like you, it's time to step back and understand you could have known your results sooner. You could have done something to improve those results. However, unless your company is the exception, you simply won't have the expertise on board to help you analyze, interpret, and alter tactics.

Your bookkeeper or controller has enough to do just to process transactions: pay the bills, send out invoices, collect the receivables, and get the employees paid. They don't have the time to prepare, analyze, and interpret monthly financial statements. In addition, your controller may not be trained to do more than they currently are. That's where a chief financial officer (CFO) comes in to play.

Regardless of the size of your company, you need a CFO. It is important to understand you most likely do NOT need a full-time CFO. What you do need is someone who has the knowledge and real-life experience from working in a number of companies over a number of years, who can bring all of that to bear in looking at your company.

You may discover outsourcing this particular senior executive position in your company is the best decision you could make.