Support from a good virtual finance team can make your life as a business owner so much easier. A good virtual finance team, whether they’re internal or an outsourced partner, should be able to guide you through all things finance and accounting.
We know for many business owners bringing in a virtual finance team is a big decision. So in this blog we’ll explore exactly what makes a good one, so you know exactly what to expect!
A good virtual finance team should…
Actively support you (and keep you up to date with everything finance and accounting!)
This one goes without saying, but your virtual finance team should be able to support you with all your accounting needs. Whether it’s payroll, bookkeeping, or forecasting.
They should be able to help you implement and streamline processes such as the automation of your book-keeping, invoicing, and expenses management.
These changes will ultimately help you save time and increase accuracy.
Other processes your finance team should be helping you with are:
- A formal or even automated credit control process – to help you increase and understand what cash is left in the bank each month.
- Understanding your financial and funding options – helping point you in the right direction and putting you in contact with the relevant funding bodies.
- Invoice approval – to help you increase your control over costs and spend.
- Cashflow forecasting and monitoring – helping you know what to expect and plan for each month.
- Board reporting and planning – helping you complete processes in more time efficient manners and increasing your understanding to help you make better informed decisions
- Tax planning – to reduce liability risks. It’s always better to plan ahead over tackling each process and deadline as they come.
Install confidence, so you can rest easy
This one is really important as you need to feel 100% comfortable and confident in your virtual finance team’s ability to handle your accounts and processes correctly.
Your finance team, whether they’re internal or outsourced, should be able to answer any questions that you may have, whilst also being able to direct you to the right people or resources if they can’t.
When it comes to decision making across all aspects of your business, but especially finance, your finance team should help you feel confident in your ability to choose what’s best.
Your finance team is supposed to help give you as much information as possible, in order to help you make better-informed choices. It’s worth noting that your finance team shouldn’t be making any decisions on your behalf – It’s your business and you know it better than anyone else, so all decisions should be yours to make.
Help educate
Every day is a school day and whilst you might not want to know the full ins and outs of all things finance, your finance team should be able to help you understand your processes and what’s required from you legally. When it comes to the world of finance, we know there’s a lot of jargon and complicated terminology – don’t be afraid to ask about something if you’re unsure!
As a virtual finance team, they should also be able to help you with using and implementing time-saving technology, software and hardware such as Xero.
We’ve written several blogs on Xero, most recently on its add-on features. You can read it here.
Free up your time
And last but definitely not least, a good virtual finance team should free-up your time!
If you’ve made the decision to handover your accounts to someone else, then they should be tackling them.
Having the support of a virtual finance team should allow you to reinvest your time back into everything else that comes with owning and running a business!
Want to know more?
We’re always up for chat and will try our best to answer any financial queries that you may have. Feel free to drop us an email!
