How to Build Your Financial Team as Your Small Business Grows

Many business owners think of their Financial Team as the stewards of the company’s finances – the people who keep the books balanced and run reports. While it’s true that this is an important part of the responsibilty for this team, it’s definitely not the whole picture. Being strategic about building your Financial Team at different stages of growth is essential for the health and success of your small business!

The job descriptions for each member of your Financial Team may seem pretty straightforward, but what business owners often miss are the nuances of what each person on this team can do for their continued growth.

You may be wondering how to build this team strategically, though. This is actually a question I get quite a lot! Here are some things to consider:

Building Your Financial Team

When you first start your business, the first person you’ll likely bring on is your Bookkeeper. This person may be part time at first, but as you grow, their responsibilities will expand.

Your Bookkeeper will be responsible for keeping your accounts balanced, pulling reports, receiving payments, paying invoices, and keeping you aware of changes to your finances. However, they can also help you with a very important project – building your Financial Systems Manual! (I am incredibly grateful for the insight my Bookkeeper brought to that process!)

The next person you hire will likely be a CPA. A lesson I learned early on is the importance of choosing the right CPA for your needs; this should be someone you can lean into to advise you on financial strategy, forecasting, and planning. They’ll be responsible for handling and submitting your taxes and making sure the correct paperwork is filed at the right time.

However, your CPA also serves another purpose: they’re the person who will explain the financial details that you might not be aware of. NOTE:  It is important recognize that there are two types of CPAs.  There are Financial CPAs that are just looking at last year’s data and processing it.  On the other side, there are Managerial CPAs who help you PLAN!   They’ll help you anticipate the financial needs of your business at each milestone. Having the right person is essential!

As your business grows, the next person you’ll want to bring on will be a Billing Clerk. This superstar will take so much work off your plate! In addition to handling your billing process, they can also help you to execute an effective accounts receivable strategy – one that can increase your cash flow considerably. (I have clients who have seen 6-figure increases solely from implementing a strong A/R strategy!)

Building Your Financial Systems

As you bring each of these people onto your team, new systems will need to be built and refined. This might seem like an unnecessary step – after all, each person knows their job and there’s always plenty to do – but you’ll thank me down the road for this advice!

Being intentional about building your Financial Systems is something that’s never too early to start. By building them early, you can not only equip your team to work more productively and profitably, you can also make the onboarding process much easier for future hires!

Think about it. In the beginning, you and your Bookkeeper handled (or are handling) all the financial duties. Keeping the books, paying the bills, following up on accounts receivable, handling payroll, and implementing the strategy that you set with your CPA.

At first, two people can do a lot of things, and do them fairly well. (Strong systems will streamline these processes further!) However, there will come a time when someone else needs to step in, either due to absence or due to growth.

Case in point: when I owned my law firm, my Bookkeeper had to step away unexpectedly due to a death in the family. Of course, I wanted to give her the time she needed, but her work still needed to be done. Because I had strong Financial Systems in place, I was able to quickly bring in a temp who could step right into her role and take on all the tasks. I didn’t have to worry that anything would fall through the cracks, and my Bookkeeper was able to focus on her family.

Without these systems in place, things would have been very different.

However, building these systems early on also served another purpose. As we grew, I was able to more easily grow my team. The basis for each role already existed, so we could refine and expand the systems rather than starting from zero!

Your early Financial Systems will build the foundation for your next hires, which will likely include Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable Specialists as well as a Payroll Specialist. Eventually, you may also want to bring on a Fractional CFO (who may later become a full time CFO).

Building Strategically

Once you know who to hire and the importance of building strong systems, you’re 2/3 of the way to building a strong Financial Team. The third thing to consider is strategy.

Bringing in the right people for your company is essential, but it’s also important to know when to hire them – and to plan appropriately. As you grow, the work will also grow.

Many business owners wait until the work gets overwhelming and revenue is high enough to allow you to hire. While this makes sense on the surface, it can also result in reactive (rather than proactive) hiring. The work needs to be done, so you hire the first person who can do the job.

Your Financial Team isn’t just made up of number crunchers, though, and not planning for growth can backfire. Today, Financial Teams bring different levels of strategy and innovation to the table, and knowing who to hire when is key.

If you’re looking for help in creating this strategy, let me know – my Coaching Team and I are here to help you. Contact us to learn how we can help you build the right solutions for your business!