Lauren Hadley

To hit $1M annually, you need $83,000 in MRR. That's 55 bookkeeping clients at $1500 each per month. But if you can upsell these clients Controllership and FP&A analysis, you can charge $4K+ per client. Now, you only need 20 clients at $4K each per month. Use technology to automate the inputs on the accounting and bookkeeping sides as best you can. Then, add value on the FP&A side. It takes a lot of work and support to handle 55 clients with just bookkeeping services and no technology vs. 20 clients using a great tool and maybe a tiny team of 3 people. You can move faster and even exceed 7 figures if you make a consistent product of monthly deliverables of books + set of financial forecasts on 3 different tiers of pricing. You see, for most accounting firms, making $1 million a year seems out of their reach, but in reality, you can get there. P.S. Before founding Jirav, I spent 10 years working in finance as a controller, finance director, and CFO. I helped multiple businesses grow, from early startups to established corporations, and helped raise over $250 million in funding for clients across the globe.

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Many people jump into the fractional CFO career and do remarkably well. Many more people jump into the fractional CFO career and do poorly, or it takes them a year or two to become self-sustaining. The ones who do well are the ones you read about on LinkedIn. The ones who are not doing well do not post about how they're doing on LinkedIn - you might think they were doing great based on their posts. But I know you're out there because I talk to a number of you. You started off excited, watching podcasts, videos, and masterclasses, and what they tell you to do - just...doesn't...work...for...you. Now is the time for you to do 1 on 1 coaching. I know you don't want to spend more money and time after putting all the time and money already into the above-mentioned stuff. But you're probably in a rut that needs personalized attention to get out of. I have a 1 on 1 coaching package targeted specifically toward people who are already fractional CFOs and not living up to your own expectations. There is an established structure but you can move at your own pace and we can modify the agenda to suit your needs. Most importantly, I take ownership of you being successful. I will beat myself up if you are not successful at the end of our time together. https://lnkd.in/ekTWqGcz

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New research shows that the proportion of material weaknesses tied to the accountant shortage has steadily increased over the last few years. Nearly 640 U.S. companies attributed material weakness to insufficient accounting personnel for the past year through June, according to an analysis conducted by Hudson Labs. Read more about how this is impacting CFO turnover in The Wall Street Journal. https://lnkd.in/gggdewiU #AccountantShortage #CFO #FinanceAndAccounting

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Finding the perfect CFO can take months, even years. Don't let your business suffer in the meantime! Our experienced fractional CFOs provide immediate support and expertise, bridging the gap until you find your ideal permanent hire. Contact me to learn more and let us help you navigate this crucial transition. #CFO #FractionalCFO #InterimCFO #BusinessGrowth #Leadership cfoconsultingpartners.com

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I've been asked about a rapidly growing segment of the fractional CFO market - people or firms providing CFO Services, or a subset of what a full or part-time CFO would do. "Why would I want to work with one of those firms instead of with someone like you who is an experienced CFO?" It depends. If you are a small business and outsource your bookkeeping to a firm who can now provide you reports, dashboards, and high-level financial advice, it is well worth the extra expense. If you are a small business with just a bookkeeper and a CFO Services firm offers to import your Quickbooks data and create meaningful financial reports and meet with you on a regular basis to understand what they're telling you, that is also a good thing and most likely worth the expense. If you work with a CFO firm that has multiple clients the same type as your business, having them interpret your financials and KPIs is invaluable. If you've never used cash flow projections in your business, there's someone out there to do it for you. It doesn't always have to be someone with a CFO background. By contrast, if you are a large enough business to have an actually accounting staff with a controller, or have an ERP system, or have 7 figures of debt, or are rapidly growing, or have venture capital debt or outside investors, you probably need someone with a CFO background. Working on a fractional basis with someone experienced as a CFO is not always necessary. But it is important to match the person's skill set and background to each company's size and priorities. Any other thoughts on this?

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Is a CFO just a glorified controller? Not at all. There have been times when people used the “CFO” title to entice talent when, in reality, they were offering a controller role with a fancy name. But a true CFO is a strategic partner. ✔️ They drive financial strategy and vision. ✔️ They manage investor relations and capital structure. ✔️ They analyze market trends and business opportunities. If your CFO is… 👉 Handling routine bookkeeping 👉 Overseeing payroll processing 👉 Managing day-to-day accounts payable and receivable … I hate to break it to you, but they are just a glorified controller, and you’re not getting the value you should out of the role. What can you do about it? Let’s hop on a call and talk about your options for getting the right people in the right roles to help your company thrive ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gAYeHP6C (Thanks, James Thurston, MBA, CPA, for the inspiration for this post.)

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✨ On the tax side, Mercury claimed a substantial R&D credit, but Christine Andrews, CPA wanted stronger documentation backed by granular data to make her confident the credit would withstand audit. On the accounting side, Mercury needed to start reporting on internally developed software (ASC 350-40) at a detailed level for their first year of audited financials. ✍ Both processes needed input from Mercury’s engineering team, but Christine wanted to improve on the traditional approach of creating separate, mostly redundant processes that wasted engineers’ time. 💡 Learn how Mercury used Neo.Tax to simplify both R&D and ASC in our newest Case Study 👉 https://lnkd.in/gjwAP92J

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The bookkeeping and accounting position making the list hits close to home because of what we recruit, but these trends seem to only be accelerating. For bookkeeping and accounting, the source here mentions automation. my sense is that this has largely already happened. The bigger impact I believe is coming from AI. Is this type of shift impacting you in your work or perhaps on your team?

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When your CFO leaves: relying on an interim CFO for financial stability The departure of a CFO can cause turbulence in a company, and until a new one is hired, it might make sense to bring in an interim CFO. Here is a brief article that discusses this topic. https://lnkd.in/gnpbHrfH

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Here are 4 tips for better managing your cash flow: 🔶 Measure cash flow - predicting how much money will come in and go out will help you to see potential problems early. 🔶 Improve receivables - get paid faster by offering discounts to quick-paying customers, asking for deposits upfront, and tracking slow-paying clients. 🔶 Manage payables - take full advantage of creditor payment terms, use electronic funds transfer to make payments on the last day they are due, and communicate openly with your suppliers. 🔶 Survive shortfalls - plan ahead for potential cash shortages by doing things such as arranging credit lines and prioritising which bills to pay first. Click here to read more: https://bit.ly/4aip0d6 #CashFlowManagement #FinancialPlanning #BusinessFinance #CashFlow

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Fractional CFOs are the strategic backbone of a business, driving growth and maximizing value. Thanks to Colin Hewitt for this insightful reminder!

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Optimist: Revenue is growing 50% Pessimist: Expenses are eating 50% of revenue. Accountant: Revenue is in the year-end close. FP&A: Should we forecast an extra 0.5% growth next quarter...? Data: Revenue was $4.1M last month and $4.3M this month. Analyst: It will take 2 quarters and 3 models to reach profitability. CFO: I can’t reconcile where the extra cash flow came from. CEO: Let’s reposition our financial strategy! Auditor: 50% of these entries violate our compliance standards. Excel: Revenue is Q1 2024. #finance

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I'm a little scared to make this post and being inundated by salespeople, but I'm looking for a recommendation. Our accounting platform is terrible for budgeting, but we're not transitioning to a new platform right now! Until that time, I'm looking for a solution to facilitate annual budgeting. Right now we're using a bunch of Google Workbooks cobbled together with plenty of easy to break formulas and different levels of permissions for the 6 budget owners. From personal experience - is there a tool you'd recommend for SMB budgeting? Theo Smith Madeleine Niebauer

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Probably the second most frequent reason CFOs tell me they are interested in becoming a fractional CFO is - the flexibility to control my own work schedule. A fractional CFO commits a portion of their time in exchange for a fee. The client company knows that. As long as you can set and maintain your boundaries, you can control your schedule - whether it be working 2 days a week, 3 days a week, 6 hours a day, or whatever. Since Covid, many workers have gotten a taste of the flexible "location" work environment, whether it be work-from-home or hybrid. To the point where many don't want to consider a job where they at least have the flexibility to work from home a percentage of the time. But for a fractional CFO, we're already there! Sure, we go into some client's offices, but that is only for a portion of the week. With 3, 5, 7 clients at any given time, we have the flexibility to choose what hours we work and where we work them. So if you are a CFO considering the next chapter in your career AND flexibility in your work schedule and location is important to you, I highly recommend a fractional CFO career. If you want to know more and haven't bought or read my book yet, a link to the book is on Amazon. Or drop me a DM to find out more.

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The fractional CFO world is very competitive - but not really. I've been at it for 18 years and I've always been very transparent about what and how I do things when speaking to other fractional CFOs. Even those who some might view as my competitors. The cool thing is that most of the fractional CFOs I meet and know are the same. Why? Because the market has been and continues to grow faster than the number of fractional CFOs coming into the market. Over time, there's enough business to go around for all of us. That's why I appreciate situations I find myself in like last Friday in Columbus Ohio. I was invited to the FocusCFO® annual company meeting. I presumably compete with them in North Carolina, but I really don't. I was a guest of their firm and from the stage they also did me the honor of praising my book and also the work I'm doing to advance the profession. But more important, I got to meet scores of great current and upcoming fractional CFOs and had a wonderful experience sharing ideas back and forth. From my research, it appears Focus CFO now has the most fractional CFOs of any firm in the US. And they continue to grow quite rapidly. They make my mission of growing the number of fractional CFOs from 5,000 to 50,000 in 5 years a little bit easier. BY THE WAY, I'm open to meeting with other fractional CFO firms in whatever way you like. I promise to give more info than I get and also to not disclose anything you don't want me to disclose. Like I said, this market is big enough for all of us.

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What can CFO's do about "talent wars"? I came across this gem in a podcast where Glenn Shiffman (CFO of Fanatics) was interviewed. Here is the context for the quote as well as the link to the podcast and transcript from Nth Round. "So I think there will increasingly be a war for talent. Look, I think you have to have a place where people can grow. I think you have to have a one on one connection with people. And you have to give people uncapped upside.... Always the topic of expense savings comes up in, in every CFO conversation. And I'm a big fan of that. And I'm a big fan of driving efficiencies. But, expense savings are finite. And revenue opportunities are infinite. So I'll apply that same theory to cultivating talent. That you want to unlock the infinite in people, and worry a little less about the finite. So you attract people who can really 10x themselves. " https://lnkd.in/eDbdy4uS

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