Virtual CFO & Outsourced Finance Director

VIRTUAL CFO & OUTSOURCED FINANCE DIRECTOR

Statutory accounts tell you what happened. They arrive months after the year end, they are written for HMRC and Companies House, and no director has ever made a decision on the strength of them. A growing business needs something different: a monthly rhythm of accurate management information, a cash flow you can trust three months out, a budget with someone accountable to it, and a person in the room who will ask the awkward question before the bank does.

That is what a finance director does — and for most owner-managed businesses, hiring one at £90,000-plus is neither affordable nor necessary. Our virtual CFO service gives you the function, at the intensity you need it, for a fixed monthly fee.

The problems we solve for you

The symptoms are always the same, whatever the sector.

• Flying blind. No idea whether last month was profitable until the year-end accounts land.
• Cash surprises. Profitable on paper, tight in the bank — VAT, corporation tax and payroll all landing at once.
• No budget, or a budget nobody looks at. Variances discovered too late to act on.
• Funding conversations you are not ready for. Lenders and investors asking for numbers you cannot produce.

Why owner-managers choose TaxDigit

We already do the compliance. The virtual CFO layer sits on top of clean books, so the management numbers and the statutory numbers actually reconcile.

• Monthly, not annual. Management accounts within days of month end, with commentary a non-accountant can act on.
• Forward-looking. Rolling cash flow and scenario modelling, not a rear-view mirror.
• In the room. A monthly or quarterly board meeting with a qualified accountant who has read the numbers.
• Joined up with tax. Corporation tax, remuneration planning and exit planning informed by the same data.

What the service includes

• Monthly management accounts. P&L, balance sheet and cash flow, with departmental or project analysis where it earns its place.
• KPI dashboard. The five or six numbers that actually drive your business — gross margin, utilisation, debtor days, pipeline conversion — tracked over time.
• Cash flow forecasting. A rolling 13-week cash flow and a 12-month projection, updated as reality moves.
• Budgeting and variance analysis. An annual budget built with you, then a monthly explanation of every material variance.
• Board and investor reporting. Papers a lender, an investor or a non-executive can read without translation.
• Scenario modelling. What a hire, a price rise, a new site or a lost contract does to cash and profit — before you commit.
• Systems and controls. Cloud accounting, approvals, credit control and a month-end close that runs without you.

Where it leads

Businesses that run this way become far easier to fund, far easier to value and far easier to sell. The same monthly discipline that keeps you in control feeds directly into our business valuation, business restructuring and exit and succession work — so when the time comes to raise money or step back, the numbers are already in a state a buyer or a lender will believe.

We scale the service to the business: a half-day a month for a £500k-turnover consultancy; a full finance function with weekly cash management for a £10m group. The fee is fixed and agreed in advance.

Frequently asked questions

What is a virtual CFO?

A qualified finance professional who performs the finance-director role for your business on a part-time, outsourced basis — management accounts, forecasting, budgeting, board reporting and strategic input — for a fixed monthly fee rather than a salary, pension and bonus.

How is this different from bookkeeping and year-end accounts?

Bookkeeping records what happened; year-end accounts report it to HMRC and Companies House. A virtual CFO interprets it and looks forward: what the numbers mean, what is coming, and what you should do about it. The compliance work is the raw material, not the product.

How quickly will I get my management accounts?

Typically within seven to ten working days of the month end, once the close process is bedded in — with a short written commentary explaining what changed and why, not just a pack of figures.

Do I need to change accounting software?

Not necessarily. We work with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and others. If your current system genuinely cannot produce timely, reliable information we will say so and manage the migration — but we do not change software for the sake of it.

Will this help me raise finance?

It is usually the difference between a credible funding application and a declined one. Lenders and investors want a forecast that ties to actuals, a budget with a track record of accuracy, and a director who can explain the variances. That is precisely what the service produces.

Is there a minimum commitment?

We normally work on a rolling monthly engagement with a clear scope. The service scales up and down as the business changes — many clients start with quarterly management accounts and move to monthly as they grow.

Can a virtual CFO help me sell my business?

Yes. Clean monthly numbers, a defensible forecast and a documented KPI history materially improve both valuation and the odds of surviving due diligence. We combine the service with our business valuation and exit planning work.