Weigh Your Options: Here Are Our Colleagues and Competitors

One of the value adds working with Quincy CFO is that when you need help with something, we often have someone in our network that can help you.  We always stress to our clients that they should consider more than one vendor to better understand their options and feel that they found the right fit.

Well, the same goes for hiring Outsourced CFOs. 

Below we have listed not our competitors outright, but organizations that may offer the mix of solutions that best fit your needs. We hope you’ll use this in your decision process.

Accounting Firms/ CPA Firms

Many accounting firms have what is called Client Accounting Services.  With these services, they provide bookkeepers and accountants to businesses on a contract basis, not unlike a temp agency.  But it’s not guaranteed they have the resources to fulfill the Outsourced CFO role.

There are two things we recommend you keep in mind when considering such a relationship:

• The resources available at some accounting firms may be long trained CPA Firm staff members –  individuals that have been in an accounting firm for their career but have little or no experience working in a business. These resources can be very strong at technical accounting expertise but may not have the experience needed in typical areas of a CFO: human resources, technology, legal concerns, facilities, and general administration.
• Accounting firms typically live in a world of seasonal deadlines. If they do not have a devoted bench of accountants and CFOs, they may not be available to you during their busiest seasons.

Bookkeeping Firms

This is a pretty straightforward category –  if you need bookkeeping services, this might be your best bet. These individuals are generally proficient with processing transactions and monitoring them throughout the year. However, you can’t necessarily rely on bookkeeping firms to act proactively on what they see in your financial statements or for their team to go outside of the norm of their routine when the need presents itself.

Sometimes these resources are accountants by college degree and can add additional value beyond transactions processing, such as by establishing some of the methods of accrual accounting. If this is something your business has interest in, you should assess your needs and ask these exact questions.

Senior Level Leaders

This could be someone positioning themselves as a COO-for-hire or it might just be a strong person in your network that has some free time to help you with your business problem. Either way, they may just have the skillset (and desire) to help you with your business needs.

There are two things we want you to consider when considering bringing on such an individual:

• For the clients we’ve seen who leverage this relationship, the senior level leader is typically someone that is between jobs.  Before you bring someone on board, consider first how long you need this resource. Is this a 90-day commitment? Or is it something that you think might be more permanent?
• How important is financial statement discipline to your needs? Many senior-level professionals are strong in CFO duties, so you don’t have to demand an accounting or CPA background. What’s important is for them to understand how technical accounting needs to be applied and whether your current staff are strong enough to do this, or if they need to step up and perform or closely supervise that work. Revenue recognition and inventory accounting are examples of things that might require accounting/CPA skillsets.

Other Firms Like Quincy CFO

To qualify as a CFO for Quincy CFO, you must have played the role of technical accountant, but then shifted in your career to work in a company as the Controller, Director of Finance or CFO. While working in a business, these Controller/CFO roles get exposure to areas the CEO likes to get off their plate: insurance, human resources, building processes, business management, and cross department interactions. At Quincy CFO, not only do we like to bring clarity and discipline to financial reporting, but we like to be a solid resource to the CEO for delegating tasks that aren’t bringing in revenue or building a great product.

We take seriously the idea that people should evaluate all of their options before choosing a vendor. And often in this Outsourced CFO space, you’ll have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with your potential resource –  the personality match between you and your resource is what’s important.  So, reach out to us at info@quincycfo.com and let us know about your needs. We’ll be happy to refer you to a similar resource that has the skills to help you accomplish your goals and help you do that evaluation.