Building a Finance & Accounting Team for Growth

I was speaking to a growing real estate developer involved in projects across North America. They have a strong leadership team, solid access to capital, and have a steady pipeline of development projects. As they grow a key consideration is building an organization that allows them the scalability and stability to preserve investor confidence and meet their ambitious growth targets.

One of the key considerations they asked me about is their accounting and finance function. They are looking at whether their accounting and finance team should all be hired in-house or perhaps engage the services of a CFO Services firm such as Finalyze Real Estate CFO Services. The other logical option is a combination of in-house and CFO Services firm expertise to get the best of both worlds for their real estate investment business.

I advised them when trying to make this determination there are a few key criteria to consider including:

  1. Leadership Preferences – Some companies have a preference to have only an in-house team dedicated specific to their needs. This is typically a more traditional approach and better suited for very large organizations as it can be cost prohibitive to small and medium businesses. A CFO Services firm can still provide this dedicated team through a “pod” system where team members are focused on a group of similar clients to provide a superior client experience even though they are working remotely from the client.
  2. Strategic Advice – Engaging external expertise can typically provide a more holistic approach to challenge your company to think differently and be able to benchmark your performance against peers in the industry. There is considerable benefit in avoiding “group think” with a CFO Services firm versus an internal employee will be less likely to provide this broad skillset and perspective.
  3. Versatility of Talent – Organizations that are starting out with internal hires typically need to hire an Accountant or a Controller at a full-time level and can rarely justify more labour cost as they build up their business. These hires come in with a certain skillset but rarely have the senior experience and training in more advanced needs for a business owner including budgeting, forecasting, business planning, and resource planning needs. Real estate firms typically require even more financial expertise including knowledge of capital markets, access to debt or equity capital, tax knowledge, and robust financial modelling skills. An advisory firm such as Finalyze Real Estate CFO Services can provide this level of expertise across our talented team for the benefit of our clients.
  4. Scalable Costs – A CFO Services firm provides ongoing support through fixed monthly plans that can scale up in fractional increments as your business grows and your needs change. When hiring full-time you are committed to making large step change increases in your costs as you can only add people on a full-time basis. A CFO Services firm let’s you choose a mix of resources that have different skillsets to compliment your business needs.
  5. Systems and Technology Stack – In today’s age of technology and cloud based systems, it is fairly cost effective and scalable to use software as a service (SaaS) based applications that integrate your accounting, finance, tax, payroll, CRM, and other needs. Small to medium organizations no longer need to spend excessive costs on customized systems and complex integrations. A CFO Services firm can work within your preferred technology stack with your team having full access to the system so that everyone works in mutual collaboration. In the past you would take on the risk of turnover and loss of organizational knowledge. With an advisory firm this knowledge is sustainable and in fact will have far more depth by being guided by an entire organization dedicated to providing a superior client experience.

While there is no “one size fits all” approach to determining how to build out your accounting and finance team we do believe there are considerable benefits for small and medium businesses or property portfolio owners to engage a CFO Services firm to fill in their gaps and provide critical support. At Finalyze Real Estate CFO Services we are pleased to work with your existing team to determine where we can add value to your organization and deliver superior finance, accounting, and tax solutions.

Whether you are a real estate developer, managing a real estate investment fund, or own a portfolio of properties we’d love to learn more about your business and see how our CFO Services can help you meet your goals. Please reach out at Info@FinalyzeCFO.com or www.FinalyzeCFO.com to learn more about our unique Plan, Raise, and Manage approach to real estate investments. At Finalyze Real Estate CFO Services we proudly serve real estate investors, developers, and investment firms with our tailored finance, accounting, and tax solutions.

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    Mailing address: Finalyze Real Estate CFO Services - 9131 Keele Street, Suite A4 - Vaughan, Ontario, Canada - L4K 0G7

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