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Entrepreneurs Don’t Think Enough. Here’s What You Can Do About It …

Every so often I find myself caught up in a really hectic 3-4 week schedule where it seems like I float endlessly between meetings. Pitches. Intros. Board Meetings. Conferences.

And I get flooded with legal docs, end-of-quarter financial administration, recruiting, whatever.

I get sucked up in the “Do” mode.

Startups Are for Doers

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. With an emphasis on the “D” in JFDI.

But getting caught up in the doing can often leave you directionless.

You need to take time out to Think.

I know it sounds obvious. And from experience, I know that saying something so simple will bring the trolls out. And I have a penchant for feeding the trolls.

But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking.

Some of my biggest breakthroughs have come in what seems like a lazy time. Every so often after a few weeks of go-go-go, I work from home from a day. I walk down from my bedroom and stay at my computer un-showered and in a hat for 10 straight hours. Or I will get some good time at a hotel just zoning out and thinking.for more visits Part-time CFO and accounting services

I have my best creative break-throughs this way. I like to think with blank pieces of paper and a pen. I’ve talked in the past about how I manage my own creative process. If you struggle to find moments of creativity you might read that post.

I also have huge creative spurts when I run. I zone out and think about how things could be different. And I often will get out a pen and paper afterward. Every now and again I like to drive from LA to San Francisco (6 hours) instead of flying. It gives me tons of zone out time with visual stimulation to get the brain going.

If you’re not taking this zone-out downtime I’ll bet you’re not having enough strategic reflection on your job, your company, your strategy.

Startups are filled with the stresses of the here and now and it’s hard to break out of this mold of focusing two feet in front of you. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How do VCs break out of groupthink when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people?

I was at the Lobby Conference a few weeks ago in Mexico. My wife and I went down 3 days early and had some chill-out time. I had one of the biggest mental breakthroughs about what I want to do differently at GRP Partners in 2013. I want to make sure that my sixth year as a VC doesn’t just become an automatic continuation of what I’ve done in my first 5 years. I don’t want to be on autopilot. I woke up super early one morning and wrote out my manifesto. I know, I’m weird.For more visits Temporary CFO and Accounting Services

I am inspired by the constant innovation in our industry by First Round Capital like the Dorm Room Fund, their expansion to Philadelphia (I hope they also have a secret plot to replace Andy Reid while there),  the exchange fund and other initiatives.  And I don’t want to be complacent.

How does this changing world affect me? My fund? How can I raise the bar? How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital? How can I play to my strengths? Think.

I can’t make a big leap forwards in Do mode.

Do you find yourself too much in email mode? I regularly shut down my email so that I don’t get pop-up alerts when I’m working. I turn off my phone so it won’t ring. I close my Twitter tab. These small dopamine-soaked distractions will cut into your Think time. Trust me. Think.

Sometimes somebody in my office will ask if “they can just get 5 quick minutes” and they will see a zombie look on my face as I rush through my office. I can feel a spinning in my head when I know that I have something I need to get down on paper. I can feel the ideas needing to come out and I know if I get distracted I will lose them. I beeline for my office, give off my zombie vibe, shout out, “not now, maybe later” and I head for my desk. I need to think.

Undistracted. No music. Concentrate. Think.

This is one of the positive signs of ADD that nobody ever talks about. I do get these extreme moments of clarity and the need to shut down all of the bullshit I’m working on (or usually it’s a meeting that I randomly need to leave because it’s driving me totally fucking nuts and I need to be alone) and I need to get something out. I learned about this behavior and how to channel it from my favorite book about ADD, Delivered from Distraction. Don’t let anybody tell you ADD is only a weakness. For more visits Outsourced Non-Profit CFO Services

And What About the Opposite?

And I know that it sounds almost silly to say that some people Think too much and don’t do enough. But that’s exactly what happens to many people.

The number of times I’ve had people come to me and say they want to blog more. They think it would be good for them.  Think not. Do.

Or people who think all sorts of ideas about how they want to quit their job and try a startup. Or quit their startup to do something different. Or they want to travel more. See the world. Visit China.

The world is filled with over-Thinkers. For sure.

And then there is the missing link. It’s what connects Thinking and Doing. And that’s Planning.

For me, the best way to put Thinking into action is to creatively brainstorm a plan of action. I literally will sit down in a brainstorming session and draw up a list of actions that would have to take place in order to make my goals a reality. Since I think visually I often do this in the form group lists with inter-dependencies or in the form of a GANTT chart.

Without dedicating time to Planning you will never optimally turn your ideas into reality. You will never connect your Think and Do.

We each have strengths & weaknesses in these areas.

I have written about the need for entrepreneurs to take inventory in themselves before deciding whom to hire as the rest of the team. For more visit Outsourced High tech CFO services

The Three Buckets of People

There is a sort of rhythm to people’s personality types that often slot them into one of three buckets.

1. I think the best leaders are Thinkers. They often need teams of people to help them plan how to turn their ideas into realities. They are “shapers” not “completer/finishers.” The best leaders know this about themselves and surround themselves with people who compliment them. Without c/f’s I’d be hosed. Just ask my wife.

2. The best managers are Planners. They are really good at creating lists of actions and monitoring the performance of those actions. The manager isn’t a bad word. They are the absolute lifeblood of any organization. If this is you, you know the drill. You’re very organized. You keep meticulous notes. You are very good at getting things done and make sure others do as well. You keep the trains running on time. You’re not quite as creative in “breaking out of the box” and doing daring new things. That’s ok. You know that about yourself. And you’re comfortable having that crazy CEO around you. Secretly, you love that you know she couldn’t do her job effective without you.

3. And the best individual contributors are Doers. This can be your star Chief Architect who loves to code but hates having to handle the admin like testing, documentation, recruiting, etc. It can also be your star salesperson who doesn’t want to have to manage a team because he simply wants to earn his paycheck and get on with his life. I’ve written about these sales mavericks before.

A great team needs all types. And you need to identify your own strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur and how to surround yourself with people who compliment you.

If you are a startup entrepreneur already my guess is that you have a heavy bias towards the Do that comes with the territory. For more visits Outsourced Bookkeeping Services

Make sure you take some lazy time to zone out and Think. Don’t put pressure on yourself to fill out every last minute of the day. And do your best after a good Think session to put your ideas onto paper and see if you can’t turn it into a Plan. Even if you have to ask for help from others to turn the Think into Do.

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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Going Paperless: How to End Your Unhealthy Relationship With Paper For Good

It may seem like a large leap to take, but you can realistically operate a paperless business. From helping the environment to improving your bottom line, going paperless will help you reap many rewards.

You may be afraid of going paperless because of the horror stories you’ve heard about business owners who lost all of their information because their computer system crashes. However, with today’s technology, you no longer need paper backups. Even if you’re not ready to run a completely paperless business, there are many paperless business solutions that can make your business run much more effectively.For more visit Outsourced CFO and Accounting Services 

Why Going Paperless may be Just what your Business Needs?

It’s fast: From documenting and sending to communicating and recruiting, there are so many business facets that just work more efficiently, and at a much quicker pace, than paper documents. Plus, your electronic documents can be easily stored and accessed at a later date at a whim. Consider the communication with your employees: how much time would it save you if you were able to communicate electronically? You can provide critical information to all employees in the fraction of the time it would take you to write a letter or make a phone call.

Less mess and space: Going paperless is often just as much about eliminating clutter as it is about convenience. In other words, think of the space you could save if your paper documents were transferred into electronic documents. In addition, it is often much easier to locate an electronic document than a paper one because it is right in front of you, in a clearly labeled file, for immediate accessibility. For more visits Part-time CFO and accounting services

Control and privacy: It is much easier to control access to an electronic document than a paper one. A paperless business likely has a set of controls aimed at limiting access to certain documents, while nearly anyone can access a paper file and retrieve information. Paperless business solutions often address the issue of security and privacy with specialized features and controls. Electronic documents can also be accessed at a remote location, thereby providing a great convenience to individuals with multiple business locations.

Save money: Let’s face it: paper costs money, and paper is incredibly wasteful. Just by eliminating some of the paper from your business using paperless business solutions, you can begin saving a considerable amount of money each month on paper-related costs.For more visits Outsourced Bookkeeping Services

Paperless business solutions may not end your reliance on paper, but they can effectively cut down on the mess, the clutter and confusion that often accompanies paper documents and correspondence.

If going paperless is just too much of a stretch for you and your business, consider starting with just a few paperless business solutions and work towards a paperless business. Many times, businesses may choose to convert their paper documents into electronic ones as a starting point. Others may simply make the switch to electronic inter-office memos, instead of paper ones. Regardless of your final decision, remember that even the smallest changes can make a big difference when it comes to cost and convenience. Use the technology that is available today and consider taking your business paperless! For more visit Outsourced High Tech and Biotech CFO Service USA

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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CRCFO offers outsourced CFO, accounting and tax services primarily to venture-backed life sciences. We handle everything from bookkeeping to CFO responsibilities while you focus on growing your business.

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Whom Should You Hire at a Startup?

Startups. We know the mantra: Team matters. Is this philosophy exaggerated? Overrated? Cliché? No. The team is the only thing that matters.

Whatever you’re working on now, the half-life of innovation is so rapid now that your product will soon be out-of-date. Your existence is irrelevant unless you continue rapid innovation. Your ability to keep up is dependent on having a great team of differing skills. Individuals don’t build great companies, teams do. For more visits Outsourced CFO and Accounting Services 

The nature of the Internet and global knowledge is such that even if you’ve stumbled onto a super interesting area of innovation there will be many teams tackling the same problem at exactly the same time. If you develop something novel that catches a spark you’ll have the world gunning for you overnight. In this, globally-connected world product leads disappear in nanoseconds.

The company with the best team on the field will win. This will be the team that hires the most talented people, channels them in the most productive configuration and gets the most output from their unique capabilities For more visits Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

So how exactly do you assemble such a team?

1. Only hire players

There’s an old saying, “A players beget A players. B players beget C players.” Why? Well, A players are discerning and tend to only want to join somewhere where they perceive other A players are. B players tend to have slightly more self-confidence issues so they tend to hire people slightly worse than themselves – thus C teams.

Is this a universal truism? Of course not. But it is general pattern matching. And it’s why VCs tend to look for uber-talented founding teams. We know that if you start with ho-hum founders you’re less likely to assemble a world-class team.

So if you’re trying to scale your team be focused on quality. Don’t sacrifice. Don’t hire too quickly just because you raised money or because you feel pressure to make things happen. The minute you compromise on quality you’ve already begun the descent.

Aim high.For more visits Interim CFO and Accounting Services

2. Find people to “punch above their weight class”

I wrote an entire blog post about this in the past highlighting my belief that you should hire people who “punch above their weight class.” But what does that actually mean?

It means that many management teams I know feel the need to hire people who have “done it before” and frankly many VCs encourage this. It’s a mistake. When you hire somebody too early who has already “done it” you often find somebody that is less motivated in tough times, less willing to be scrappy (as many startups need to be), more “needy” and less mentally flexible/willing to change their way of thinking.

Importantly, you also find people who are too quick to undermine the authority of the founders. They “know more.” You don’t want sycophants – don’t get me wrong – you want people who challenge your thinking and a meritocracy of ideas. But you don’t want team members who openly question your judgment, your authority. At least not publicly.For more visits Non-Profit CFO Services

So what does it mean to “punch above one’s weight class?” It’s a boxing analogy. It means a welterweight who wants to fight in the heavyweight category. It means a “young Turk” who has something to prove. It means somebody who held the director of sales in their last company but in this company wants to be VP. Their last company said, “you don’t have enough years of experience.”

You said, “Eff experience. I want to know whether you can deliver. If you can, you’re golden. You’ll go a long way. If you can’t – you’re toast. Are you up for it?” It’s Tristan Walker of Four Square. They hired him when he was an MBA. He had no right to ask for a senior biz dev role at one of the hottest companies in the US. But he was ready to punch above his weight class. And he pushed for it.

And heavyweight he has become. He is out-innovating people with 10 years’ experience. He is hungry. He is an A player. His innovation and execution are proving his worth.

3. ABR: Always be recruiting

In the entire time, I was an entrepreneur I think I never really stopped recruiting.

 In my busiest days, I was still taking early-morning coffees or end-of-day beers to meet as many people as I could. Sunday mornings often became recruiting coffee sessions.

One of the “tells” for me of a management team that will not be extra-ordinarily successful is that they’re not always recruiting. I’ve seen it before – I send a talented member to a team and they say to me, “we don’t really have a role for that person.”

Really? I always have a role for talented people. I may not have a BUDGET for talented people – but I always have a role for them. What role? Who the F knows? But let me at least have a coffee and feel out their enthusiasm, talent, and ambitions.

I might choose to do an upgrade on my existing team. I might be grooming them for when I have more money or more revenue. I might not be able to persuade them now but I want them to know my company so that when I’m ready to step on the gas I have a list of A-players I want.

Sure, the challenges to me are obvious:

How can I afford them?

How do I motivate them?

If I bring them on board now, how do I not reduce the motivation from those that I have already hired?

Should I upgrade the existing staff or hire them laterally?

Can I persuade them to join when they have other choices?

If you’re not dedicating a large chunk of time to continually “recruiting” then you’re high. Or maybe you’re “low” – as in “not likely to succeed.”

Remember. Always be recruiting. ABR.

4. Don’t worry about exact “roles”

I think the most limiting factor that stops Startups from recruiting is the “we don’t have an open spec” or “we already have somebody doing that role” excuse. Don’t let that be you. Your team can always make room for David Beckham. Lebron James. Keith Rabois. Sheryl Sandberg.

Get out there and find them. Ask others for intros to their talented friends. Meet talented people and sell them the vision. Get them excited about what you’re doing. Be relentless.

If they’re amazing, then be radical. Give them controls that they don’t have in their current company. Allocate them enough options to salivate. Convince them that even if they stay only a year they’d learn great stuff that would be valid for the rest of their future. You might need several meetings to bag top prospects. But if you never start you’ll certainly never hire them.For more visits outsourced high tech CFO services

5. Attitude over Aptitude

If you’re doing a great job at continually recruiting and if you have a company ready to hire several people, at some point when you have enough of a pipeline of talented people you need a way to separate them. I have a long-standing mantra, “attitude over aptitude.” This is assuming a raw minimum of MIPS in the candidate. They need to be seriously smart/talented in their field to make the minimum grade.

But within this “minimum acceptable talent level” you still have a wide variance of “employee types.” Let’s be honest – some uber-talented people are PITAs. I never hire them. One bad apple spoils things for everybody.

You don’t see it coming. You figure, “sure, they’re a pain but they produce such high-quality work I’m willing to put up with them.” Don’t. The last thing you need is some rat bastard fomenting trouble.For more visits Interim CFO and Outsourced Tax Service

They’re the ones who are talking pop at cocktail parties when they’ve had one too many. They’re having private lunches with other employees talking about how they’ve lost faith in your vision.

When you hit internal moments of doubt you need the team members who say, “Guys, we can do this! We’re up against the ropes but we’re not down. Let’s dig in.” You need team members who do that when you’re NOT there. You need… mafia.

If you have a trade-off between somebody who is more talented but a “bad seed” versus somebody who is very talented (but perhaps less so) who is a motivator – I’d hire the latter any day of the week. Choose attitude over aptitude.

6. Culture matters

Along the same lines as aptitude, I would say that “company culture” matters. Know what your principles are. Know the kind of people you want. Know what makes a member of your team. What traits are important to you? What values do you want to embody?

Try to set out guidelines for hiring. Try to live them yourself or people will see through it. As times get tough you’ll value this culture. Even in uber-successful times where you’re hiring like mad, you’ll want to know what somebody who embodies your culture is like.

The best book I ever read on this topic was Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh (founder of Zappos). It’s a must-read and has great advice on building a company culture.For more visits outsourced Biotech CFO services

7. Don’t over-sell

Finally, I always tell management teams not to “oversell” and I never do so myself.

I don’t mean you shouldn’t sell hard on the virtues of your company and why you’re the next Google – you should. If for nothing else you want all of the talented people you interview to spread the gospel whether they join or not.

What I’m talking about is this – if somebody is thinking about joining but you can tell they’re not convinced don’t cross the line to get them to join. What does this mean?

It means don’t tell them that their stake will make them $20 million if you’re not convinced it will. Don’t promise them that their role will be much bigger than you’re planning. Don’t promise revenue or growth faster than you know you can achieve.

Sell hard, sure. But don’t oversell.

Why? Because if somebody is not convinced in their own mind and you arm-twist them to join they’re bound to be unhappy and eventually leave. I’ve seen it a load of times. You promise the world. You don’t deliver. They are frustrated. They feel duped. They express this to others. Now you have more than one problem.

And it’s never a good thing when a high-profile hire quits unexpectedly. It causes otherwise happy people to second-guess things.

So sell, by all means. But don’t oversell. Don’t promise unrealistic things. Don’t over-promise.

So that’s it.

So go and schedule your next coffee meetings. Increase your number of interviews.

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About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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The Three Most Important Things A Start-Up Should Do To Protect Their IP

For most start-ups their primary focus is on developing their technology and fund raising – sometimes protecting the intellectual property tends to fall to the wayside. However, developing an IP strategy at-an-early stage can be essential to the future success of the company. Major changes in U.S. patent law make developing an effective IP strategy even more important, lest the value of the company be negatively impacted. There are at least three steps an early stage company should consider taking: For more visits outsourced high tech CFO services

 1. Don’t disclose

Many early stage companies make the mistake of disclosing their IP in the process of fund raising or market research to explore the viability of the technology. In the U.S., companies have a one year grace period prior to filing a patent application during which disclosures will not jeopardize future patent rights. However, you are not afforded this same grace period in foreign countries and any disclosures will result in loss of foreign rights. While foreign protection may seem less important to an emerging company and to the initial investors, it will be important down the road. If the company is ever to be acquired, the buyer will want foreign protection.For more visits Temporary CFO and Accounting Services

 2. File Early

In 2013, the US moved to a “first-to-file” system, in which the first inventor to file a patent application has priority (rather than the current first-to-invent system). As a result, applicants will no longer be able to claim priority based on the date of invention to get around a competitor’s patent or other publication that predates their own. It will thus be especially important under the new system to file applications as early as possible.For more visits Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

 3. Keep Your Filing Alive

Don’t stop at one issued patent. A single filing will likely not be sufficient to protect your IP. Prior to issuance of a patent, always file a continuing application. When drafting claims in the initial application, the focus is often on protecting your own invention. Continuation practice, however, provides you with the opportunity to focus on blocking your competitors and any design around products they may develop that avoid infringement of your original patent.For more visits Part-time CFO and accounting services

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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Our fractional CFO and accounting services in Newton, MA help businesses reach peak performance through strategy and execution. Call for our export consultation.

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Rethinking Revenue for Measurable Impact

Before your nonprofit drafts its next strategic plan, I urge you to take a few minutes and grab a blank sheet of paper. First: Map out which organizations out there doing similar work. Then consider: What will your team uniquely bring to this issue?

In short: What will your measurable impact be?

That answer should guide everything – your business strategy, your structure and staffing, your communications, your partnership outreach. Everything. It might even reveal that you’d be better off joining forces with another organization, that the space is already too crowded or that your solution is missing a critical piece. For more visits Temporary CFO and Accounting Services

Every day, thousands of organizations, governments and individuals work to address serious social problems – poverty, hunger, poor education, environmental degradation. This is wonderful: People are taking issues into their own hands and – in some cases – making a real impact. For more visits Fractional CFO and Accounting Services

But a larger question persists: Are we all going about this the right way? Are too many organizations focused on the same issues, fighting for the same resources and fundraising dollars? Are competition and a lack of cooperation ultimately holding us back?For more visits Non-Profit CFO Services

Think about how overwhelmed donors must be. Then imagine how much stronger your case for support would be if you could offer solutions – an impact – that cuts to the heart of the issue. Imagine how much stronger your case would be if you could present a social impact “return on investment.” fFor more visits High tech CFO

When a group of us worked with Bread for the World to start the Alliance to End Hunger, our vision was to build the nonpartisan political and public will to end hunger. As vice chair and head of our development committee, I’ve seen firsthand how we’ve sometimes struggled to meet budget in a crowded anti-hunger nonprofit sector. Our “saving grace” has been our relentless focus on advocating for the best legislative solutions, such as the Global Food Security Act and a strong Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. For more visits Outsourced Bookkeeping Services

But our secret sauce has been using the power of “we” to advocate at the state, federal and international levels. We realized that our goal could be achieved only in partnership. Now the Alliance has almost 100 nonprofit and corporate members – organizations like Sodexo and Rise Against Hunger – whose own programs provide solutions to hunger all over the world, and whose membership dollars also support the core operations and budget of the Alliance. We’ve helped launch and support over a hundred “Hunger Free Communities” in the United States, totally run by volunteers, and we’ve “replicated ourselves” by helping to launch six international Alliances to End Hunger in Uganda and other African countries. For more visits Interim CFO and Outsourced Tax Service

That was the impact we were striving toward. And we embraced it with our name – the Alliance to End Hunger. We embraced it in the way we reached out to partners and foundations, showing them exactly how their support would play a crucial role. Now our goal is to end hunger in the world by 2030, a goal shared by many others through a commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN and others all around the world. For more visits Outsourced High Tech and Biotech CFO Service USA

 About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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6 Reasons to Outsource Your Accounting

Consider outsourced accounting – the best financial talent when you need it.

As an entrepreneur and business owner, you have more important things to do than keeping your own books.

There is a clear advantage to outsourcing your bookkeeping, accounting, and finance functions. Your time is valuable and critical to the growth of your company and bringing products to market your time is not best used in managing or performing finance and accounting or HR functions. For more visit Outsourced CFO and Accounting Services

Put simply, an hour spent on an internal process is an hour lost to generating revenue. Additionally, outsourcing brings lower resourcing costs, better controls, and improved processes. For more visit Accounting Outsourcing

You may be under the impression that outsourcing reduces “control” over the accounting function. In fact, management has enhanced control when it can spend time analyzing business information instead of processing transactions and managing daily tasks. Real control is understanding revenue, costs, and profits generated by individual products/services, offices, salespeople, departments, and customers. For more visit Non-Profit CFO Services

 There are 6 key reasons to outsource your bookkeeping, accounting and finance functions:

Convert fixed costs into variable costs. Hire the expertise you need, only when you need it and pay for the hours of service used.

A cost effective alternative to hiring and developing accounting departments of experienced people.

An easier way to undertake ad hoc projects within finance. For example, systems conversion, year-end audit preparation, tax preparation, and sales and use tax analysis.

Offers deep technical strength to deliver comprehensive resources and best practices to deliver objective, high-value financial and management consulting. For example, software revenue recognition implementation, M&A due diligence, valuation services.

Accurate financial statements on a timely basis to provide business intelligence to run the business, report to external investors and banks.

Reduce the risk of exposure to tax and audit risks.

*Hiring costs can run 30% or more of salary.

Hire the expertise you need, only when you need it. Hire by the day, week, month or project.

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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Are you looking for interim CFO and accounting services then Charles River CFO helps you? Hire an Interim CFO, Part Time CFO Services as you need.

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Budget Season

Charles River CFO works as the outsourced accounting and finance function for over 100 companies. That is a lot of experience and insight.

 The CRCFO team leader, the CFO, not only manages their internal team but is the key liaison to their client's leadership. We are the fractional CFO to such a diverse client group. As we head into the 2020 planning and budget season, here are a few leadership tips we'd like to share with you. High tech CFO

 Get Your Culture Right

 Culture needs to lead and strategy should follow. Peter Drucker is known for this quote "Culture eats strategy for breakfast". Pretty straightforward. Culture is a key element to your company's success, without it, all that strategic thinking and initiatives are irrelevant. For more visit Outsourced CFO and Accounting Services 

 What are your cultural traits? Integrity, employee satisfaction, encouraging intellectual curiosity, attention to detail...there is a long list of traits, try ranking both what you want as your culture..but also force yourself to look at the reality of your culture, what do you have? The CFO is part of leading your culture and frequently your change agent. As a corporation it is easy to focus on strategy, particularly when under stress. Take Peter Drucker's quote to heart. Get your culture defined first, work with your CFO to not only define your culture but lead with it! For more visit Non-Profit CFO Services

 Defining Problems/Opportunities

 It is not unusual to hear a company declare they have a problem/opportunity and its leadership team is often quick to jump in with their suggested solutions. It’s in the DNA of the leadership to solve problems but step back. Is this your problem/opportunity, or is it a symptom? So how do you define your problems/opportunities? 

 There are several thought leaders, David M. Kelley and Hal Gregerson come to mind, with their approaches to asking open-ended questions to both define the problems and discover its solutions. From our work with a diverse group of clients, this trait of asking open-ended questions is key to the CRCFO Leadership. Try it at your next leadership team meeting. Keep asking questions! For more visit Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

 Strategy versus Tactics

 We often see these two converge, and they are very different. Once you define your culture and problems/opportunities, a strategy can be discussed. But beware of jumping into tactics before you set a strategy. The strategy is the overarching plan with governing policies. Tactics are the execution. I like to think of the budget as the bridge between the two. If you spend more money on marketing versus research what does that mean for your organization? Do you need to keep innovation in the forefront or is brand awareness key to your success for more visits Part-time CFO and accounting services

 Design your 2020 overarching plan based on your corporate culture and the opportunities you see. If you throw a budget out to your leadership team without doing this first, don’t be surprised to see a cookie-cutter exercise of % increases across the board. We are working on 2020 budgets with our clients, getting the client's culture. Well defined problems and their corporate strategy are the first key ingredients in building the budget. Tactics become the roadmap to achieving your plan. Reach out to one of our outsourced CFOs for more insight.For more visit Fractional CFO and Accounting Services

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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High tech CFO and Biotech are helping start-up organizations some fundamental changes even developing radical new approaches to longstanding business practices.

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10 Reasons Why Every Start-Up Company Needs a CFO

We have provided part-time CFOs to start-up companies for over 15 years. Time and time again, a senior CFO has improved these companies’ findability, operating health, and exit value. Here’s why every start-up company needs a part-time CFO:

Increase success in raising capital

A senior CFO is a key member of a strong management team, even on a part-time basis. He or she adds credibility and quality to the company’s financial model and projections; helps the CEO articulate the company’s financial vision, and efficiently negotiates and closes funding rounds. for more visit Outsourced CFO and Accounting Services

Avoid big mistake

Every company experiences a missed forecast, unexpected cost overruns, unbudgeted expenses, and other surprises. Senior CFOs are experts at anticipating the unforeseen, preparing for adversity, and minimizing the effects on the organization and its cash. For more visit Accounting Outsourcing

Optimize cash management

A part-time CFO provides solid forecasting and expense management to extend your company’s runway and buy time to create more value.

Improve company management

Experienced CFOs know how to manage financial and administrative tasks of all types. They know what things should cost, and can quickly and favorably negotiate benefits, insurance, leases, bank lines, legal fees, outside service providers, and more. They make sure that accounting numbers are accurate and on time. They can fluently manage ancillary operations and departments so that your knowledge team doesn’t have to spend time in the back office. for more visit Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

Avoid group think

A good CFO knows how to constructively challenge a plan, proposal, number, or claim. It is their fiduciary responsibility and unique skill to bypass conventional thinking and force 360º problem solving to increase the chance of success.

Build credibility with the board and investors

Investors appreciate and value a senior CFO’s contribution. They know that a good CFO can be a trusted advisor and will improve the company’s, and the CEO’s, performance. For more visit

Part-time CFO and accounting services

Increase the Likelihood of refinancing

Companies that meet or exceed plan, manage cash and headcount well, have a history of delivering accurate, on-time financials, and report few negative “surprises” typically get high marks from existing investors. And happy existing investors attract new investors.

Create constituent confidence

Having senior CFO reassures employees, creditors, suppliers, banks, service providers, and investors. You will attract better people, get better terms, and operate better. For more visit

Interim CFO and Accounting Services

Increase the probability and price of an M & A event

More than 90% of exits are achieved through a company or asset sale—often early in a company’s evolution. M&A buyers, often public companies, will either drastically discount or avoid a young company with weak financial, administrative, and operational management because the integration of pain and clean-up cost is too high. A part-time senior CFO can minimize the discount, friction, and transaction pain, thereby yielding a higher return for all.

For more visit Temporary CFO and Accounting Services-

Get a return on your investment

A part-time CFO more than pays for their service, providing senior CFO expertise without full-time employee headcount. Many startups use a part-time CFO for as little as five hours per month and can scale his or her involvement as the startup grows. As affordable as a part-time CFO is, how can you afford not to have one?

About the Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach. Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners. To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

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Searching for new bookkeeping services in USA? We break down how to find the best bookkeeping services for your small business. Contact our exports for any kind of help.

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M&A: Is it the right time for your company and are you ready?

Charles River CFO works with a number of their clients to ready them for a merger or acquisition. Sometimes our outsourced CFO and accounting services is brought in to specifically assist the client to get ready for this transaction, other times, as their long term fractional CFO we have been positioning them for such an exit. For many of our clients, M&A can be lucrative for owners and investors. Whether it is part of an exit/payout or just another part of your growth strategy, it’s important to be strategic (to leverage both value and growth). 

 It is healthy to take an active look at M&A even if you choose not to pursue it. Some of the "exercise" of considering M&A can produce healthy changes in your organization.

 There are a few key steps to prepare for such a transaction. Then comes the evaluation.

 So let’s talk about preparation. Here are a few take-always from helping our clients prepare for this transaction.  Keys are: 1) your financials 2) your internal risk assessment 3) defining your business 4) your readiness to be acquired and 5) market readiness/cycle.

 Your  financials.

 In addition to having at least three years (preferred) of financials that are GAAP or GAAP-lite, review your accounts and clean up any questionable areas. How strong are your receivables and its reserves? Any judgement based accruals need to be scrubbed? Any convertible or off balance sheet debt?

 Segregate recurring revenue from one-off revenue. Same for their associated expenses. This exercise is a general pass at the quality of your earnings. What can your acquirer count on? Can you tell a story that supports growth?  Can that growth be extended forward into future years?

  Be sure to footnote or to explain major transactions and have the ability to pull them out of your financials should you want or need to.

 Your internal risk assessment

 Diagnose your business' strengths and weaknesses. Don’t think your potential acquirer hasn’t already done this. Your upfront assessment puts you in front of the conversation. Knowing your "skeletons" and addressing them demonstrates your understanding of the business. What are your hidden gems? Define your uniqueness and explain them.

 As a business you have areas of exposure both by definition, due to the business you are in, and by how you designed your infrastructure.

 Your exposure by definition of the business you are in should be known by your acquirer.  By identifying this business risk, you demonstrate your understanding of the business you are in.  For example, could your business be susceptible to obsolescence, requiring constant innovation? How have you addressed or mitigated this business risk?

 Now address the risk from how you have designed your business. Is your business lean and relies on key individuals? Have you spread your risk by diversification? Capture this information.  Many companies have evolved in their business design and are often startled when they look at the risk they have designed into their business model. Maybe you focused on research and development or marketing and allowed your back office infrastructure to lag. Don’t be caught flat footed.  If you know your weaknesses, you might have time to redesign and explain these changes in a proactive fashion. Know them versus being caught unaware during due diligence.

 Defining your business

 Think of this as your "management’s discussion and analysis" (MD&A.) While we all wish to believe we are that unicorn, your business twin is out there. Take the information you pulled together from your analysis of your financials and your internal risk and write it up. Do your research and find your twin in the public market. Know what you are up against. The information disclosed by your twin is probably what your acquirer will want to know at a minimum.

 Be ahead of your potential acquirer’s request. By writing up your own business description, you define the conversation.  This is the time to capture and disclose any one-off costs. If there are any unique compensation models, get those details out there.  Allow the acquirer to easily create the EBITDA bridge and carve out savings from acquisition. And don’t forget to highlight your hidden gems.

 Your readiness to be acquired

 Is your company ready? As a business, what does an analysis of product sales look like? What does the top line revenue look like and does your 5 years' growth projections align with this? Where are you versus your market spaces penetration?

 Is your business in a position of perceived strength or weakness? Even a weakness may have key value to another company (for example immature market penetration prior to acquisition might partner well with existing market penetration by the acquirer.). Have you achieved key business milestones? Will a deal facilitate achieving key milestones?

 Is your company psychologically ready for the deal? And does it matter? Will the company be stronger after an acquisition? It might be necessary to communicate the benefits of an acquisition or merger. Top talent will always have choices, the right message will keep them.

 Is the market ready?

 If you are strong, the market is always ready.  But if your business can fluctuate with the economy, consider being ready while the economy is still growing.

 Think about who is your ideal acquirer. Pull the list together by general industry and specific firms. Identify the pros and cons of both players by market and by individual firms.

 Know what comparable deals look like, both by size and industry.  What are the pros and cons of various business partners? Understand the multiple ranges. Draft your ideal transaction and then give that deal a haircut.

 If you are sitting in a position of perceived weakness understand the potential impact. Can you make lemonade out of the deal? Is the sum of the deal less than the parts? Does your business have valuable segments that might be worth more carved out and the remainder company be sold at a discounted value? Look at what the market has done in both these instances.

 Ready for marriage?

 Firms often find it hard to get through M&A preparation. Charles River CFO has worked with numerous companies helping them get ready for a transaction.  The better prepared your company is, the easier it is to decide if the deal is right for you.  Do you care who you are marrying? It is important if key professionals will have an ongoing role in the acquired firm. It could be important if earn-out or other contingent fees are tied to the transaction. As a fractional CFO augmenting your team, we can help you determine fit of product or market. Some deals require a level of reverse due diligence, is the acquiring firm healthy, good corporate culture fit, and market alignment. Charles River CFO can help you sort through the deal.

About Author

CRCFO is a technical accounting and financial consulting firm utilizing a flexible and scalable team approach.  Our technical team is led by highly experienced former Big 4 partners.  To support your business strategy, we collaborate with your stakeholders to navigate your important transactions – IPOs, M&As, revenue arrangements - and other complex accounting, systems, process and business issues. CRCFO employs a risk-based approach to help you minimize transaction risk which maximizes stakeholder value by anticipating matters that can derail your business, transactions, financing, and external audits.

 By Connie Wright, President

Charles River CFO