Going deep as Virtual CFO

Richard Francis, CEO, Spotlight

Reporting

Richard Francis is CEO of Spotlight Reporting, a Xero award winning company providing business intelligence tools. Richard trained and practised as a Chartered Accountant for much of his earlier career, focusing on advisory and strategic services with a penchant for technology clients.

The most obvious ’low-hanging fruit’ offering that Accountants can provide is Virtual CFO assistance. A Virtual CFO is an outsourced provider offering accounting plus advisory assistance to a business, much like a Chief Financial Officer does for corporate entities...

Many progressive

accountants offer this service as do some of the best bookkeepers. At Spotlight Reporting, we empower our ‘super’ users (i.e. consumers of Spotlight Reporting, Forecasting, and Dashboards) to be VCFO’s for clients, with our software doing much of the heavy lifting.

Providing useful numbers and analysis is not that far removed from the existing work that accountants do. The approach and processes are not dissimilar to compliance workflows, even if the mindset required (insight, not hindsight) and usefulness of the outputs is a quantum leap from the status quo.

Be Your Own VCFO

be credible, I recommend that you start close to home. Be your own advisor by adopting KPI’s, reporting regularly, and having better decision-making conversations.

I was chatting with Tim Munro, CEO and Founder of the ChangeGPS network and a big Spotlight Reporting user, and he hit the nail on the head: “If you aren’t doing Virtual CFO work for yourself, what right do you have to do it for your clients?”

Starting with Spotlight

Spotlight Reporting is the most popular door-opener to advisory services in the Xero eco-system, as more than 1,000 progressive Xero firms can attest. Our outputs are designed from years of experience in practice by me and my team, to easily enable client conversations. We want accountants to advise; to move from being a recorder of past events to being an architect of future events.

Multi award-winner Steph Hinds of Growthwise explains how to get started:

“It’s actually not that hard…get started with 2 of your best clients, prepare a Spotlight Report - and make it happen! Identify 3 things that are positive and 3 areas for constructive improvement…and start the conversation.”

Sharing a sample Spotlight Report has also been a successful method for firms to seed a Virtual CFO relationship. Talking through the Spotlight Report, Forecast or Dashboard leads to an exploration of client goals and aspirations, allowing a service profile match to

When I was in practice, deploying and scaling Spotlight Reporting was the key to our scale-up success. Using Spotlight to analyse and visualise key client data - alongside our interpretation, guidance and recommendations - engaged clients and embedded us as trusted advisors.

Onion Rings of Opportunity

As the diagram shows, a number of great advisory services can be built around the client and the basic strategy overhaul, growth/profit,

Virtual CFO premise. I talk of ‘onion rings’ that represent opportunities beyond reporting, allowing you to add depth and scale.

Some of these service opportunities can be incorporated into a cadence also require micro, sporadic

of pro-active client activity:

1. Annual Strategic Planning (facilitated of course by you) 2. Annual Budgeting and Cashflow

Forecasting (Scenario-planning too) 3. Annual KPI-setting (and periodic 4. Monthly or bi-monthly Advisor

Meetings (present your Spotlight

Report, provide advice, evaluate opportunities and threats, and listen to the customer) 5. Monthly or bi-monthly calls or coffee meetings with the key decision-maker to nudge onwards towards agreed milestones, or to

keep the finger on the pulse 6. Quarterly projects (process review, financing, policies review, software implementation, people review, mentoring).

Virtual CFO advisory will monitoring thereof)

interventions. Often these will be client-instigated, but it is important that you provide a fair degree of ongoing decision-making support.

Action Planning

When I first designed Spotlight Reports way back when, I usually included an Action Plan to close the circle between great data analysis and goal-setting. I’m delighted that our Action Plan functionality - featuring visual goal tiles, progresstrackers and due dates, brings this great combination together again. VIRTUAL REPORTING MENTOR PROJECTS + STRATEGY BOARD/TRUSTED ADVISOR

True advisors don’t just talk about the numbers, they set goals with clients and work alongside them to see the actions achieved. Setting goals is a powerful connector between accountant and client, preferably covering Financial, Business and Personal goals for a complete and holistic overview.

The Time Is Now!

Spotlight Reporting was created to empower accountants to do work of value and purpose for clients. I’m thrilled that tens of thousands of users are now producing reports, dashboards, and forecasts as part of their Virtual CFO service offerings.

The Virtual CFO opportunity is all about having:

Applied and learned the skills on

your own practice The imagination to see it as an opportunity for clients The top systems and software to support it; and The guts to do it – now!

Create Impact

What truly excites me about our Virtual CFO opportunity is the impact we can have not only with our clients but on our communities. Well-advised, nurtured small and medium businesses grow jobs and profits, build confidence and community and contribute the taxes that make schools, hospitals and other essential shared goods and

industry and going deep with the services thrive. Wouldn’t it be great for the accountancy industry to be seen as an enabler of great economic and social outcomes? If we’re engaged and interacting with purpose and passion as Virtual CFO’s we can all contribute to such a profound impact.

Game on!

Founding Supporters: XU Magazine’s Patrons

Between 23rd March and 14th April 2014, we launched our campaign to raise US$25,000 to fund the magazine on Indiegogo, one of the world’s largest crowdfunding websites. Amongst those of you who supported the magazine are our Patrons, listed below:

5mc | Melbourne, AU accountantshub.com.au | AU Account Wise | Auckland, NZ Accounting Buddy | Adelaide, AU Accounting To You Pty Ltd | Melbourne, AU accounts2u | Wellington, NZ AccountsConnect | Sydney, AU Active Admin Ltd | Upper Hutt, NZ Adam Ramage | Melbourne, AU Adaptive Advisers | Melbourne, AU Addept Pty Ltd | Adelaide, AU Addflow | Melbourne, AU Admin Happy | Melbourne, AU All Round Accounting | Port Macquarie, AU Ashton Wheelans Limited | Christchurch, NZ Axis CPA Group | Connecticut, US

Bach & Company Chartered

Accountants | Indooroopilly, Queensland, AU Barcant Beardon | London, UK Basis 365 Accounting | US BBS Partners Business Hub | Brisbane, AU

Beacon Bookkeeping & Accountancy

Ltd | UK Bette Hochberger CPA, CGMA | US Biscuit Bookkeeping | Geelong, Victoria, AU Bitcoin Investment Group | Wellington, NZ BizFitness Limited | Nelson, NZ Bollands Chartered Accountants | Alcester, Warwickshire, UK Bookkeeping With Zero Effort | Melbourne, AU Books & BAS | Canberra, AU Books In Shape | Melbourne, AU Boost Bookkeeping | Brisbane, AU Btom | Pyrmont, NSW, AU Carey V. Downing, CPA, PLLC | Fayetteville, North Carolina, US Chaser | Global Cloud 9 Accountants | Auckland, NZ Cloud Accountants | NZ Cloud Accounting | Oregon, US CNJ Accounting | Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Coastal Bookkeeping For You | AU Concept Bookkeeping | Wagga Wagga, AU Connected Accountants | Global Consult to you | Melbourne, AU D J Ramey & Associates, PC - CPA’s | Brookfield, Connecticut, US Dailey Bookkeeping Services | Southfield, Michigan, US Daily Balance | Elk Grove, California, US Diablo Management | Auckland, NZ DJA Capital Pty Ltd | Melbourne, AU Elite Bookkeeping Solutions | Kirrawee, AU Engine Room CA Limited | Pukekohe & Tauranga, NZ Expert Cloud Accounts | Melbourne, AU Fax n Figures Bookkeeping | Canberra, AU Figurit Bookkeeping Pty Ltd | Mooloolaba Queensland, AU Finance On Demand | Seattle, Washington, US First Class Accounts - Ballarat | Ballarat, AU Francis Handcock | Wollongong, AU Fullstop Accounts | Cardiff, Wales, UK Futurebooks | Asia Generate Accounting Group Limited | Auckland, NZ Get A Life Accounting Solutions | Far North Qld, AU Gill McKerrow | Brisbane, AU Green Cloud Bookkeeping | Idaho, US

Heather Smith, author of Xero for

Dummies | Brisbane, AU i-Accounting & Tax Limited | Auckland, NZ Institute of Certified Bookkeepers | Melbourne, AU Integrate in the Cloud | Perth, AU Intersect Bookkeeping Services | Perth/Albany, West Australia, AU Island Accounting Solutions | US Jill Of All Trades | Gold Coast, Queensland, AU

Johns Creek Professional

Bookkeeping | Johns Creek, Georgia, US Joshua Lance CPA, LLC | Chicago, Illinois, US Julie Russell Bookkeeping | Auckland, NZ Justin Cooper | Melbourne, AU

Funded on:

Katalyst Office Management Ltd | NZ Kinder Pocock | UK Laurus Bookkeeping | Brisbane, AU & Global Nexus Bookkeeping Systems | Margaret River, West Australia, AU NQ PRO Bookkeeping Solutions | Townsville, Queensland, AU Number Nurses | Global Nuvem 9 Ltd | Northern Ireland, UK Orbit Accounts | Melbourne, AU Pavilion Accountancy | Ramsey, UK Quick Win Development | Global Rebecca Pizzi | Perth, AU Redman Tax & Consulting, LLC | Durham, North Carolina, US Robin M Wentzel, LLC | Honolulu, Hawaii, US Russells Ca | Bay of Plenty, NZ Spotlight Reporting | Global Star Strategies Bookkeeping | Melbourne, AU Stratus Online | Southern UK Tally Accounting, LLC | Greenville, South Carolina, US Titanium Accountants Ltd | Birmingham, England, UK Total Accounts | Perth, AU TradiePad Pty Ltd | AU Verte Consulting | San Francisco, California, US

Whitehead & Aldrich Chartered

Accountants | Preston, Lancashire, UK xerousers.com | Global Your Business Accounts | Sydney, AU