Staffing Accounting – Finance Department For Start – Ups to Medium-Sized Companies



I have had a lot of conversations recently about staffing the accounting and finance function in the company. As companies grow and shrink, their needs in this area change. We certainly do not want to be over-staffed, and we also want the most cost-effective staff doing as much of the work as possible. For example, we typically do not want our Controller or CFO entering payables – this task can easily be delegated to a much lower cost employee.

In a a simplified organization chart of the different accounting and finance functions, a CFO would be at the top of the chart with a Controller reporting to her. The Controller would have staff in AR, AP, and Payroll along with one or more accounting managers over one or more of those functions. The reality is that most start-up and emerging companies cannot afford all of these positions. My purpose in this post is to explain how to fulfill all of these necessary functions throughout the life-cycle of a start-up company. I am making the assumption that we all understand the purpose of the accounting/finance function as well as the assumption that the company has or will hire the appropriate outside professional(s), like a tax CPA, to help the company remain compliant.

Even at the earliest stages of a start-up, it is usually best to hire a part-time bookkeeper to fulfill all of the roles listed above. They usually do not have the expertise of a high-level controller of CFO, and they will be slightly over-paid for doing some of the more clerical tasks. But the bookkeeper gives an affordable and flexible option to start-ups.

As the company grows and has revenue, the company should begin to look to hire full-time clerical staff to handle most of the AR, AP, and payroll tasks while the bookkeeper remains part-time and delegates everything they possibly can to the in-house staff. One of the major challenges that usually emerges during this process is that the part-time bookkeeper will begin to struggle to keep up, especially with the monthly financial statement preparation and analysis as well as other management reports on how the business is doing and what improvements should be made to maximize cash flow.

Often the next best step is for the company to consider engaging the services of a part-time CFO. This individual will be a strategic direction to this department and may only be needed about a half-of-a-day per month. As the company continues to grow, the part-time bookkeeper will need to be replaced by a full-time Controller or Accounting Manager. All of the full-time accounting staff will report to this person. In addition, this position will take direction from the CFO.

The last full-time hire should be to fill the position of CFO. Often companies can do very well leaning on the part-time CFO services to exceed $50 or even $75 million in annual sales.

How to Use the Personal Finance More Is Less Rule



Personal finance is fond of rules. It’s a lot easier to coin a rule that sounds like it would work in most situations than it is to actually go through all the different financial products and explain how one would best use them depending on the situation.

Not only is it difficult to write – and impossible to write exhaustively – it is also boring for the reader and that is simply inexcusable especially in the personal finance world where there is a distinct lack of the sex and drugs and rock and roll that would otherwise paper the cracks caused by bad writing.

Having said all that, though, let me now propose a personal finance rule that might just actually work: it’s called the more is less rule.

The principle says that the more you compare credit cards the less you’ll end up ultimately paying out to your credit card provider.

What’s more it says that the more you compare current accounts the less you’ll end up going into your overdraft and shelling out hundreds of pounds for the privilege.

Why does it work? For a number or reasons but, for fun, let’s just pick three.

First, looking more allows you to find the best deal. It’s as simple as that.

You’re likely to find what someone else wants to tell you is the best deal on the first go. That’s easy. People make a living from telling you that.

Look further, though, and you’ll notice that you and your finances don’t fit some perfect consumer model. You’re unique and you need something that suits you: the money you have as well as the way that you spend and save.

Second, the act of looking is important in itself. It ensures not only that you’re getting more or less the right product but that you understand what you’re getting into which is much more important.

At some point when doing this research you’ll realise why you need to borrow the money or what you really use your current account for. Most other people won’t know that.

Third, and finally, good things take time and work. Personal finances once worked out and automated needn’t take up much of your time but they should take up some.

More doesn’t have to mean a lot but it should mean some.

The more is less rule even applies when you compare savings accounts since these can come with battery of fees or offers that expire and leave you with less money in interest than you could have had.

Help With Personal Finance – How To Eliminate Credit Card Bills Through A Debt Settlement



Do you need help with personal finance? If so, ensure that you are using a method other than bankruptcy. This is because of the fact that once you use bankruptcy, you will lose your credit score and you will fail to get further credit from creditors for at least 7-10 years. This happens because the report of bankruptcy filing shows up on the credit history for 7-10 years. The best thing that you can do is to opt for debt settlement. With this method, it is true that you will not be able to eliminate the entire debt that you have but you will sure eliminate at least 50-70% of the debt that you have and also you will not lose your credit score.

To opt for debt settlement, you will be needing a debt of at least $10k and the debt needs to be consolidated in one place. It is not mandatory but suggested that you opt for professional help from a legit debt settlement company. This is because of the fact that if you negotiate with your creditors on your own, you will not get an elimination greater than 30%. This happens because you lack expertise and knowledge of the banking system.

When you hire a professional company, the negotiator from the company will ask you to stop paying the creditor. This is because, the negotiator needs to prove to the creditor that you are in a financial problem and you will no longer be able to repay the debt in full. This is also notified to the creditor by a formal letter. The letter is sent to the creditor along with the proof of your financial problems.

Once the creditor receives the letter and stops getting any payments from your end, the creditor will wait for 3-4 months and then contact a collection agency for recovery with the hope that the threatening calls from the collection agency will force you to repay the debt in full. When the creditor contacts the agency, the agency agrees to give only 20-30% of what ever money is recovered from you to the creditor. The negotiator keeps a track of this and the contacts the creditor and offers 30-50 cents per dollar and at the same time threatens the creditor that you will be left with the only option of bankruptcy in case the deal is not accepted.

The creditor agrees because it never wants you to file for bankruptcy and also because of the fact that the new deal will mean 100% ROI for the collection agency and wipes of the debt that you have by at least 50%. The remaining amount of the debt is to be paid to the creditor in bulk within the specified time. This is how you eliminate credit card bills through a debt settlement.