The financial tasks entail with almost all types of business no matter how big or small business entities are. Generally, CFO would supervise the controller who would manage financial, managerial, and tax accounting and the treasurer who would be charge of finances in a business entity based upon the primary responsibilities to oversee the financial risks of the company. The one of the most essential functions for CFO is to come up with financial planning with which a firm would efficiently access funds in a timely manner. There are many small and mid-sized companies that would be operated without a short and long-term financial planning and have difficulty in cash management comprehensively. Those firms might not have a CFO or assigned manager by itself due to limited human resources or other reasons. However, it might not be necessary to hire a full-time CFO if a company does not have reserved funds because there are many qualified persons who would provide CFO services case by case in the market.

 For instance, each business entity has own financial strategies and plans because the business circumstances it is surrounded with would be unique, even though it can be categorized in a specific industry. A competent CFO should provide the optimal financial solutions and prime consultation to the CEO or senior management level to support and challenge him or her in leading business.

 Another function of CFO is to present and report historical financial information of the corporation that would be the cornerstone whenever it would get business events such as business expansion, funding, M&A, and so on. It seems that some small and mid-sized business owners feel free to get book-keeping services from CPAs or other experts with a nominal fee. It would be the good decision to outsource the task in terms of meeting tax-reporting regulations. However, I recommend that the owners would have the chance to review closely financial statements or tax returns provided by their CPAs or experts and that they consider to find the right person who has enough qualified financial and tax experiences in the matter and can guide them with desirable directions their business would seek for. There is no surprise that the filed financial statements and tax documents would turn out unsupported and not reflect materiality of business entities or related transactions, even though there might be some tax-savings over the past years when firms really need to go forward to next business levels such as IPO, M&A, business loans etc.

DISCLAIMER

The above information or idea is not intended to apply to all business cases so please contact Terry Koo, CPA for further business information & consultation.