At LiftBridge, we regularly hear from founders and business owners trying to navigate the timing around hiring a Fractional CFO. To help answer these common questions, we sat down with Andy Barton, one of our experienced fractional CFOs, to get his thoughts. This is the first in a four-part series exploring common questions about fractional CFO services.
Andy Barton, CPA, has over 30 years of accounting and leadership experience. Most recently, Andy served as the CFO of Renaissance Acquisition Company LLC (Ren), a software enabled services firm where he led the successful sale of Ren to a large Private Equity firm. Andy’s full bio can be found here.
Part 1: Signs You Need a Fractional CFO
“When do I really need a fractional CFO?” It’s one of the most common questions we hear at LiftBridge. To help business owners understand this crucial decision point, we asked Andy Barton to share his insights from both sides of the desk – as a former full-time CFO and now as a fractional CFO helping businesses navigate growth and change.
Three Key Indicators It’s Time for a Fractional CFO
1. You’re Losing Touch with Financial Details
“Business owners often come to us when they start feeling uncomfortable about what to do next,” Andy explains. “They’ll tell me they used to know every transaction, every customer order, and exactly where their time was going. But as their business grows, that intimate knowledge becomes harder to maintain.”
Andy says the disconnect typically shows up in several ways:
- What investment is needed and what are the priorities
- Delayed financial reporting
- Uncertainty about cash flow
- Difficulty tracking key metrics
- Challenges with forecasting
2. Strategic Decisions Are Becoming More Complex
Drawing from his experience as a CFO and at LiftBridge, Andy identifies common scenarios:
For SaaS Companies:
- Evaluating pricing strategies
- Planning funding rounds
- Considering acquisition opportunities
- Optimizing customer acquisition costs
For Traditional Businesses:
- Expansion planning
- Succession preparations
- System modernization
- Market diversification
3. Your Team Needs Additional Support
“We often see talented controllers and accountants who are excellent at their jobs,” Andy notes, “but they need strategic guidance to help the company scale.”
Signs your team needs support include:
- Struggling with forward-looking analysis
- Difficulty with strategic planning
- Limited experience with growth challenges
- Need for specialized expertise
Where’s The Value in Fractional Financial Leadership?
Why choose fractional over full-time? Andy says its flexibility and scalability.
It can be thought of as “’rent-to-own’ expertise,” Andy explains. “You can start with a specific project, scale up or down based on your business’ needs and access senior-level expertise without the full-time cost or commitment.”
Don’t forget, a Fractional CFO brings immediate impact to organizations through:
- Enterprise-level expertise without the full-time cost
- Financial strategy development and implementation
- Specific experience with growth challenges
- Objective outside perspective to optimize systems and processes
- Team development and mentoring”
Making the Decision
“The key,” Andy emphasizes, “is recognizing these signs early. You don’t wait until you’ve got to hire an experienced financial person to dig you out of a hole. You bring them in before you start having problems.”
At LiftBridge, we see the best results when companies are proactive about seeking fractional CFO services. Whether you’re a fast-growing SaaS company or an established business planning for the future, the right time to consider a fractional CFO is often earlier than you might think.
Reach out to the LiftBridge team to learn how we can help your organization.
LiftBridge believes that everybody gets smart finance. Our passion is lifting early stage and growth organizations to the next level of growth by offering Fractional CFO and end-to-end accounting services. Learn more about the Fractional CFO and Accounting services LiftBridge provides.
