Do you spend more time with your finance hat on than in your core business?
A new business will typically start off with the business owner looking after the day-to-day finances of their business with help and support from their outsourced accountant. However, as the business becomes more successful and turnover increases, naturally the time and energy required to keep finances in order will increase. This in turn creates a tipping point whereby the business owner is being pulled away from what they do best, developing their business and utilizing their talent for that sector.
Before long you are now fully immersed in the world of accounting and finance. This was never your chosen career. At best you might be able to complete accounting duties after work or during weekends, which is not ideal from a work life balance perspective. Perhaps it’s time to consider what a finance professional can offer your business. 
3 Simple reasons to engage with a financial professional:

1.    Without a financial professional, your business is only benefiting from basic compliance and record keeping
2.    As your business grows the time and energy required to keep finances in order will increase
3.    The reality is your business will suffer as a result of your time and attention being pulled away from the core business

What are the core areas a financial professional could support my business in?
The best way to understand the responsibilities of an organization’s finance team is to split the roles and responsibilities into accounting and reporting and strategic financial management.

Accounting 
The core functions of the accounting role can be defined by the following tasks: 

•    day-to-day record keeping and reporting – (including all payroll, accounts payable and receivable)
•    cash-flow reports
•    management and the preparation of balance sheets
•    financial statements

Audit is another significant responsibility that falls under the accounting personnel remit as well as tax and additional reporting functions. 

This position holds the responsibility of ensuring a business is in line with regulations and is in good financial health.

Record Keeping and Reports 
In this position, some of the core duties are:

•    Keeping track of all transactions and financial events within the business
•    Ensuring accurate records are kept
•    Safeguarding these records for a significant period of time (to indicate the businesses growth and whether it is making a profit or a loss)
•    Monitoring money owed to investors and other partners

A businesses records are used to budget and forecast the future and may be reviewed by banks, tax officials and external auditors to make sure that everything balances out, so ensuring high standards of accuracy is essential.

As a guide if you are looking to hire an accounting professional to look after the above duties then the compensation levels you are looking at will be as follows:

Senior Bookkeeper: Salary £35,000 - £40,000
Finance Manager: Salary £40,000 – £45,000

The above professional represents a stand-alone position within a small / medium sized business with a turnover between £800,000 - £2,000,000 

Key functions of the Financial Planning Team / Strategic Financial Team

• Within a business the strategic financial management is a function that falls to the finance planning team and financial strategy team. They will take a 360 approach and will monitor the businesses health and subsequently use this overview to inform both short and long-term goals. 
• Financial planning teams will reference current records and reports to enable them to predict the growth and future trends of the company, then the strategic finance team 
• builds forecasts and strategies to facilitate this growth. Additionally, they manage and mitigates risk, looks at ways to increase capital, manages budgets and financing options, and liaises with investors.
• A strategic financial team has the ability to take the data from their reporting to accurately predict how the organisation will perform within a month, quarter, or year. Again, these reports detail clearly trends, potential issues. Being able to provide evidence backed intelligence allows the strategic financial team to foster strong relationships with investors to ensure ongoing support and investment.

If you are looking to hire an accounting professional to look after the above duties, then the level you are looking at will be as follows: 

Financial Controller: Salary - £60,000 - £80,000 

Most companies with a turnover of 1.5 million will have an in-house finance professional, but it will be the ambition and future of the business that determine the level of the perspective hire. 

At Taylor Hawkes, we have worked with a huge number of companies who need their first Finance professional. We worked with the business owner to understand their requirements and advised them of the appropriate level of hire needed as well as the technical skill set needed to help develop future growth plans. 

If you would like to speak to one our professionals to discuss a potential requirement, please get in touch.