Staffing Accounting – Finance Department For Start – Ups to Medium-Sized Companies
I have had a lot of conversations recently about staffing the accounting and finance function in the company. As companies grow and shrink, their needs in this area change. We certainly do not want to be over-staffed, and we also want the most cost-effective staff doing as much of the work as possible. For example, we typically do not want our Controller or CFO entering payables – this task can easily be delegated to a much lower cost employee.
In a a simplified organization chart of the different accounting and finance functions, a CFO would be at the top of the chart with a Controller reporting to her. The Controller would have staff in AR, AP, and Payroll along with one or more accounting managers over one or more of those functions. The reality is that most start-up and emerging companies cannot afford all of these positions. My purpose in this post is to explain how to fulfill all of these necessary functions throughout the life-cycle of a start-up company. I am making the assumption that we all understand the purpose of the accounting/finance function as well as the assumption that the company has or will hire the appropriate outside professional(s), like a tax CPA, to help the company remain compliant.
Even at the earliest stages of a start-up, it is usually best to hire a part-time bookkeeper to fulfill all of the roles listed above. They usually do not have the expertise of a high-level controller of CFO, and they will be slightly over-paid for doing some of the more clerical tasks. But the bookkeeper gives an affordable and flexible option to start-ups.
As the company grows and has revenue, the company should begin to look to hire full-time clerical staff to handle most of the AR, AP, and payroll tasks while the bookkeeper remains part-time and delegates everything they possibly can to the in-house staff. One of the major challenges that usually emerges during this process is that the part-time bookkeeper will begin to struggle to keep up, especially with the monthly financial statement preparation and analysis as well as other management reports on how the business is doing and what improvements should be made to maximize cash flow.
Often the next best step is for the company to consider engaging the services of a part-time CFO. This individual will be a strategic direction to this department and may only be needed about a half-of-a-day per month. As the company continues to grow, the part-time bookkeeper will need to be replaced by a full-time Controller or Accounting Manager. All of the full-time accounting staff will report to this person. In addition, this position will take direction from the CFO.
The last full-time hire should be to fill the position of CFO. Often companies can do very well leaning on the part-time CFO services to exceed $50 or even $75 million in annual sales.
Top Ten Finance Jobs – The Best Financial Jobs
If you’ve got no idea which finance job would suit you best, worry not we’ve compiled a list of ten of the most popular financial jobs.
Auditor – there are two types of financial auditors, internal and external. The principle difference between the two types is who the employer is. If you wanted to be an external you would be employed by one of the big city financial firms. While internal auditors normally work within the company. As a consequence only companies of a certain size can justify employing internal auditors.
Banking – there are dozens of branches on every high street in every town, and that’s only the frontline staff for customers. By the time you’ve factored in all the behinds the scenes staff and the people working at head offices, the scope jobs offered by banks is huge. As well established companies, they offer some great benefits for employees with reliable job security.
Underwriter- insurance is a dynamic and interesting sector to work in. Underwriters are ultimately responsible for working out how much your premium is. Whether its car, holiday, health or any other kind of insurance there are specialist underwriter jobs which can provide engaging job opportunities.
Private Equity – though hugely complex, those working in private equity usually work funding business start ups. Often they are looking for a portfolio of investments where the individual projects might be quite risky but collectively creates a rewarding investment. Private equity typically attracts two types of people, industry experts who are able to identify the companies that offer the best chance of proving successful and those with more of a financial background who are responsible for managing the portfolio and the investments.
Payroll – the most important person in any company is the person responsible for payroll, they make sure you get paid! The larger and more complex the structure of the company the more difficult the role becomes. A good understanding of payments as well as the various tax and pension laws is vital for anyone thinking of pursuing a career in payroll.
Accounts Assistant- for many people it’s difficult to know where to start when looking for a career in finance, especially if you have no specific qualifications or experience. An Accounts Assistant job may be an ideal opportunity. These entry level positions offers a chance to experience many of the different disciplines which are involved in finance, which may help you decide where you would like to specialise.
Credit Controller – Accounts Receivable is one of the most popular departments to work in within a busy account department. Credit controllers roles can vary enormously but normally they job is based around ensuring that invoices created by the company are paid in a timely manner.
Financial Director – When it comes the Finance the FD is the top dog. Of course the size company makes a huge difference, but whether it’s a SME or a FTSE 100 company FDs are normally in charge of everything financial in the company. With these positions comes great responsibility but usually the experience of FD enables them to carry out their roles with confidence.
Management Accountant – Of all the disciplines of accountancy management accounts is among the most popular, usually they focus more of forecasting the future than assessing the past like auditing.
Business Analyst – while you get many different kinds of business analysts specialising in different industries, there are a significant number of financial business analysts who fulfil a role not dis-similar to management accountants. They are given responsibility for analyzing the needs of their businesses customers and stakeholders to highlight financial business problems and suggest solutions.
Working Capital Financing
All businesses have some sort of an operating cycle. This is essentially the time it takes from purchasing needed materials or supplies and converting them into a finished product that can be sold. The operating cycle further consists of selling those products and collecting payment for all that effort. Once products are sold and payments collected, the cycle is completed.
For retail businesses (including online businesses) the cycle starts with purchasing products for resale (inventory) then displaying those products on shelves or on web pages, closing the sale and collecting payment.
Even service businesses, while their operating cycle can be much shorter, still see a time lag between providing the service (to include any purchases of material or labor to complete the job) and collecting payments from customers.
It is because of this time lag that working capital financing comes into play.
All these businesses need some form of assets, be it inventory, materials, supplies, labor, etc. (usually termed: current assets) that can quickly flow through the operating cycle and be converted into cash (revenue). This is essentially what business is. Once payment (revenue) is received, the company can then use any operating cycle profits (gross margin) to cover overhead expenses like salaries, marketing, loan payments and interest, capital purchases, or any fixed general, administration or selling expenses.
The problem that arises for most businesses (especially small and growing businesses) is not having the cash on hand to purchase the needed materials to complete their operating cycle. Not only do some businesses not have the cash or capital to purchase needed materials they may also not be able to cover other variable costs related to the operating cycle like paying labor, landlords, utilities, etc.
In a perfect world, all businesses would have the necessary financial wherewithal to cover all expense while waiting for payment. But, the business world is not perfect. Most businesses have to wait anywhere from one day to years to complete their cycles and get paid by their customers (typical operating cycles usually last from a few weeks to a few months but depend on the industry and business).
But, in the mean time, while these businesses transform goods into finished products or services and wait to be paid by their customers (or wait to see if they can even sell the products or services they offer), their suppliers and vendors, landlords, utility companies, employees, IRS, bankers, etc. all want to be paid now and not wait for the business to receive payments; keep in mind that these businesses are also facing their own time lag in their operating cycles. Thus, for businesses that do not have the cash on hand to meet these expenses, they must turn to working capital financing or face going out of business.
Working capital, by definition, is the difference between current assets and current liabilities where current liabilities are used to finance current assets; and the conversion of those current assets into revenue is what is used to pay off those current liabilities.
There are many methods to working capital financing; here are a few of the most common:
Trade Credit: The fastest and most efficient way to finance materials or supply is via trade credit. How it works is simple. You purchase goods from your vendors or suppliers. They tell you that you can delay payment for those goods for 60 days. This 60 day period will give your business time to convert those goods, via your operating cycle, into revenue in which to repay the vendor or supplier. If you are not currently getting trade credit terms from your vendors – you might think about asking for them. If you are, you might look into getting them extended. The longer the payment delay terms, the better for your business as it has more time to convert those goods into revenue.
Business Lines of Credit (BLOC) are short term revolving credit lines (usually with a 12 month or less term) and are specifically designed for working capital needs. These credit lines allow businesses to purchase needed material, supplies, labor etc., convert those into some form of revenue over a very short period and pay back the borrowed funds as soon as possible. BLOCs are usually revolving lines meaning the business can pay them down from one operating cycles and draw on the line again for another operating cycle. Most BLOCs are set for 12 month periods as these lines are meant for short-term financing only and from a banker’s prospective should be paid to zero some time during each of the business’s operating cycles.
Business Cash Advances: These cash advances are not loans but advance against future sales. These advances are great methods of working capital financing as they allow businesses to receive capital up front and pay it back from future sales. Business cash advances are usually based on the total revenue of the business but do require the business to accept credit cards as a form of payment from their customers – as it is these credit cards receipts that are used to pay back the advance. Very good working capital products for retail (online and brink and mortar) as well as service businesses.
Accounts Receivable Factoring: Some businesses may find themselves in (according to baseball terms) as pickle – stuck between waiting for customers to pay on one side and having trade partners (vendors and suppliers) demanding payment on the other side. Let’s say your business purchases materials Net 10 days – meaning that you have 10 days to pay in full for those materials. You convert those goods into finished products in 5 days and ship them to your customer with a NET 30 day invoice – meaning your customer has 30 days to pay you. In these situations, Accounts Receivable Factoring can be used to obtain the working capital needed to pay off the supplier as well as purchase additional materials for another operating cycle. Then, when payment is received by your customer, the business can repay the Accounts Receivable loan or line of credit and use the remaining gross margin profits to cover other costs and overheads. Most factoring company will advance 80% of the invoice amount and base their approval decisions on your customer’s creditworthiness.
Purchase Order Financing: Purchase Order Financing is a great method of securing working capital for a business’s operating cycle. Let’s say that your business has one or more jobs that need to be completed but finds itself without the needed working capital to complete the job(s). A purchase order factor may advance your business the funds (up to 80% of the purchase order amount) – essentially paying your supplier or variable costs on your behalf – so that you can complete the orders, satisfy your customers and earn a profit.
Lastly, and this cannot be emphasized enough, working capital financing is short-term financing and should only be used for short-term needs. Keep in mind that most operating cycles are very short periods – usually less than 90 days. Thus, any financing to be used in the operating cycles should be short-term – matching that 90 day period. Anything else is bad financial management as the business would be paying far more in interest and fees if it uses long-term financing options for short-term, working capital needs.