Have you ever found yourself wondering if you need a CFO? Here’s a quick overview of five reasons why it’s really handy to have one on your side!
- Job Profitability
When you have a CFO, they can help you align your costs with your estimating and really create that whole circle — estimating, project estimating, and accounting — which ultimately allows you to improve job profitability. A CFO will look at all the numbers, the costs, and help you make sense of everything.
- Past and Future Performance
Sometimes when we think of accounting, we only think of the past performance. That’s great and it’s necessary, but you really start to see the full benefits when you look at future performance. What are your expectations? How can you affect change and your profitability going forward?
- Banks & Bonding
A CFO will help build the relationships with banks and bonding companies, who require certain information. He or she will make sure to provide the information that presents the contractor’s business in the truest and best light, and also protects the owner.
- Owner Help
Speaking of the owner… That’s where a CFO really comes in handy! We’ve seen it so often in so many companies as they grow — the owner essentially becomes the CFO, in charge of estimating, in charge of the field, all of which can get really overwhelming. Having a dedicated CFO will take much of this burden off the owner’s shoulders, freeing up his or her time for other important day-to-day tasks.
- Financial Decisions
It’s hard to make all the decisions that come at us in the construction business! Especially when most decisions — such as which jobs to take, which pieces of equipment to buy, whether to hire a new employee — come with a financial impact. A CFO is a great friend to have who will help you make informed decisions with your business’ best interests in mind.
We’re ex-contractors, so we know all about the thin margins and tight bottom lines in the construction business. That’s why at Atlas CFO, we created a virtual CFO program to help contractors deal with all the areas described above — without the cost of having a dedicated full-time CFO on staff in your organization.