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B2B CFO NAMED IN PRESTIGIOUS INC. 5000 LIST

184% Growth Earns B2B CFO Spot in the 2010 List of Fastest Growing Companies in America

Phoenix, Ariz. August 24, 2010 —  B2B CFO, nation’s largest provider of CFO services to small businesses, has been named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.

Now in its 29^th year, Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking judges US-based and privately held companies by their revenue growth.  This year’s list was ranked on the percentage in revenue increase from 2006-2009. B2B CFO’s growth earned 84^th place in its industry.

 "There are approximately 27 million small businesses in the U.S. today,” said Jerry L. Mills, founder and chief executive officer of B2B CFO, “It is a huge honor to be among the fastest growing and the most successful businesses in the country.  Our firm has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years and we are on track to continue expanding.  I am especially grateful to all of the firm’s dedicated Partners who continue to advocate our services around the nation.”

In a personalized letter congratulating B2B CFO on this accomplishment, Jane Berenston, editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine’s wrote “Congratulations: your company, B2B CFO, has made the 2010 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. This achievement puts you in rarefied company, especially if you consider that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA.  The elite group you’ve now joined has, over the years, included companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Visa, Intuit, Jamba Juice, Oracle, and Zappos.com. I look forward to congratulating you in person in Washington, D.C.”  

B2B CFO’s growth is reflected in numerous awards this year.  The company was also recently named in ACE Corporate Growth Awards, which recognized the most successful and fastest growing companies in Arizona.  

In August 2010, B2B CFO has grown to 170 Partners across 39 states, representing 5,000 years of cumulative experience.  Each Partner is a seasoned financial executive who serves as CFO to growing businesses on as-needed basis.   Approximately 80% of the Partners have a background that includes senior executive positions at the Big Four, and all of the Partners have held high level executive finance positions in various industries in corporate America. Together, B2B CFO Partners work with more than 500 businesses in the nation with combined annual sales of more than $3 Billion.

Jerry L. Mills and many of the B2B CFO Partners regularly dedicate time to educate business owners on financial matters.   Mills is a frequent speaker and contributor and has been featured on many national media networks including FOX Business, Fortune Small Business, Smart Money and many others.  Mills is also the author of The Danger Zone - Lost in the Growth Transition, and Avoiding The Danger Zone – Business Illusions, both business non-fiction books that help entrepreneurs understand and build a strong financial strategy.

“We look forward to participating in the Inc. 500|5000 conference in Washington, DC this fall,” added Mills. “Along with my colleagues, I look forward to the October 2^nd awards ceremony and to meeting the entrepreneurs that created the other 5000 fastest growing companies in America.”

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for todays innovative company builders.  Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

Inc. Magazine’s 29th annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country is available online at www.inc.com/inc5000/list

ABOUT B2B CFO

Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., the firm was founded in 1987 by Jerry L. Mills. B2B CFO is the nation’s largest CFO firm serving entrepreneurial, growth and mid-market companies with revenue under $75 million.  The firm’s partners have an average of 25 years of experience and each individual partner is a senior level executive with a broad range of expertise.   Please visit online at www.b2bcfo.com

Companies without a Chief Financial Officer are at a competitive disadvantage.  It's not unusual for small to mid-sized firms to have sophisticated operations and complex cost and financial challenges like large companies.  This often means that the CEO or the owner of the business needs the expertise of a senior financial executive that they don’t need on a full-time basis or can’t afford.

As an owner or CEO of a company, have you ever wondered how to solve the problems you're facing?  Is digging into these areas yourself a good use of your time?  As the owner, you need to be the visionary, focusing on the future-and you are the one who should be spending more time with your customers.  What you need is the assistance of a high level financial professional that is not on your payroll. 

ADVANTAGES OF OUTSOURCING CFOs

Better financial information for key decision-making.  Most small to mid-sized businesses either don't prepare financial statements, or they present incomplete information that renders them unreliable.  Accurate financial statements represent a scorecard that reports owner the company has performed in relation to enacted business decisions.  More importantly, they provide the foundation for future business decisions.  In a recent national survey conducted by 3GoodQuestions and B2B CFO, less than 10 percent of businesses follow a written annual plan designed to outline strategies to achieve specific goals and determine the financial needs of a business.  In today’s environment, an owner cannot effectively run a business without a plan.   A CFO can assist in developing simple, efficient and effective business planning processes designed to provide the roadmap to grow an owner’s business profitably and prepare complete and accurate financial information to provide the data necessary to react to the ever-changing environment we live in today.

More time to spend with customers.  To be competitive, you need to spend most of your time with current and prospective customers.  Particularly today, you need to be with your customers as much as possible.  Just as you are trying to get new customers, your competitors are trying to meet with your customers.  You simply need to be spending the majority of your time with them.

More money from the bank and from vendors.  Bankers and vendors are more sophisticated than ever.  With the current financial situation affecting all businesses, they are more skittish about lending to anyone other than the largest and safest companies.  And they require regular, reliable financial statements.  The financial statements must look professional, follow accepted accounting principles, and highlight the company's key ratios. A CFO working with you on a part-time basis can improve your company's external "image" and assist you with opening doors to banks and obtaining better vendor terms.

Other advantages to having an outsourced CFO include:

• A sounding board for the owner in making key decisions
• Fewer cash flow surprises
• Better trained accounting staff
• A theft deterrent
• Better documentation and controls
• Solutions to company problems

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER 

A CFO is a proactive professional that has a pervasive knowledge of information important for the owner to properly run the company.  This includes handling not only financial matters but also addressing HR, sales and marketing, IT, and other issues needed to help the company succeed.

A common misconception is that a CPA can take the place of a CFO.  The simple reality is that a CPA cannot do the work a CFO does because each has a different set of skills.  As noted above, a CFO has a broad range of experience in financial and non-financial areas.  The CPA and the CFO should work very closely together, but neither has the ability to step into the other's shoes.

So, when you are looking to outsource the CFO position, you need to look for a professional with 25-plus years of experience.  You should be sure that the CFO is supported by a national organization that has the resources to be able to give your CFO the support that may be needed.  In finding someone with this experience level and support, it is highly unlikely that a problem or issue will come up that can't be resolved. 

Avoid signing contracts.  If an organization is not confident and competent enough to perform these services based on a hand-shake, consider walking away. 

You should be comfortable that the fee fits comfortably within your budget.  Ask that there be a monthly "ceiling" for the fees to be paid; there should never be any surprise on fees.

Finally, be sure that you are comfortable with the CFO.  With a high level of trust between the owner and the CFO, the company will be in a better position to meet the challenges that it faces.

Throughout my career, I have been honored to work with many great leaders at both Price Waterhouse and at Universal Stainless & Alloy Products.  Each had a significant impact on the development of my business values and my attitude toward serving customers.  While each influenced me in their own unique way, they shared one value that has provided the most personal satisfaction during my career.  Do the right thing and make a difference.

At Price Waterhouse, I was exposed to many clients within the financial institution, public utility, manufacturing, high-tech and not-for-profit industries.  Then in 1994, I was introduced to the founders of Universal Stainless, Mac McAninch and Dan DeCola.  At the time, they were unable to secure the necessary bank financing to purchase a dormant specialty steel manufacturing facility located in Bridgeville, PA and they ask me to make a difference.

We worked on developing financial projections that supported the strategic plan and that could be validated through comparisons to historical financial data.  Finally, we were able to secure the bank financing to complete the transaction.  Then we turned our attention to developing accounting and manufacturing systems from a “blank sheet of paper” to support the start-up.  Systems were operational by the 30^th day, the day Universal Stainless melted its first heat of steel.  Every employee of the Company made a difference in those first 30 days and many days thereafter as the Company continued to defy the odds and grow its customer base, revenues and profits.

Other companies have also provided me personal satisfaction throughout my career.  Within the past 18 months, I dealt with several privately-held customers of Universal Stainless unable to pay outstanding invoices on a timely basis due to the impact of the economic conditions of 2008-09.  Following my guiding value of “do the right thing and make a difference”, I worked with each affected customer and developed payment plans to work down their debt satisfactorily.  The gratitude expressed upon the successful completion of each plan was rewarding to me because I believed that “I made a difference.”

These experiences made me realize that helping small privately-held businesses address their financial challenges excited me.  Therefore, I started to research available opportunities to make this a full-time commitment and I found B2B CFO.  Reviewing the website and the materials provided by the firm, discussing the value proposition with the founder Jerry Mills, and interviewing several partners to understand the firm’s support in their efforts to serve clients allowed me to conclude that after 16 years as the CFO of Universal Stainless, it was time for a new challenge; the challenge to become a B2B CFO partner and make a difference with the small business community that I will have the privilege to serve.