Join 2,600+ readers of The 5 Minute Fractional CFO newsletter and learn how to start, scale or optimize your Fractional CFO services.
My firm trusts Decimal to handle all of our clients' accounting needs from bookkeeping to AR/AP to invoicing to taxes.
If you're anything like me, you want your Fractional CFO firm to focus on strategic advisory work.
If you want to offboard accounting and trust it'll be done right, check out Decimal.ย
๐ Click HERE to learn more!ย
Read time: 2:58 minutes
Sometimes I don't practice what I preach.
As a fractional CFO, I know the importance of the fundamentals when it comes to the numbers.
And I know you do too!
We talk about them to our clients daily. But every so often, I realize that I'm not doing the basic things I tell my clients to do.
๐ข QBO isn't up to date.
๐ข My accounts haven't been reconciled in months.
๐ข I haven't updated my cash flow forecast in, ummm, yeah...
Insert feelings of disappointment, embarrassment, guilt, and shame HERE.
And there is NO shortage of valid-ish excuses for it!
In fact, I am remarkably skilled at telling myself stories about why it's ok.
My two favorites are:
1๏ธโฃ I'm great at tracking my numbers in my head and
2๏ธโฃ I've been super busy with (thing) so I get a pass this time
Ugh.
I do webinars teaching about this stuff and here I am, acting like an amateur.
OK, awareness is the first step towards making progress.
If you're in the same boat, let's check the guilt at the door and take action!
Here are 3๏ธโฃ simple action items (and one bonus!) you should take in your firm ๐
You know you need your books to be up to date.
But you also know it shouldn't be YOU that's keeping your books up to date!
You would NEVER tell another CEO that they should be doing their own books.
Because they need to be focused on CEO things.
And guess what, you're a CEO too!
So you need to be focused on CEO things.
This is a best practice whether you're a solopreneur CEO of if you're a CEO leading a firm with 20 employees.
The action item ๐
Hire a bookkeeper (1099 is probably fine) or a firm to handle your books. Set and manage expectations with them just like you would for any other vendor.
Oh, this is also true for taxes.
Quit fooling with your own taxes!
The obvious reason we need cash flow forecasts in place is so that we can make smarter spending decisions.
But I've found a non-obvious benefit to having them in place too!
When I regularly update my own cash flow forecast
And I use the same templates that I use with my clients
I get a better understanding of my clients' experience with my tools.
Over the years, I've made countless changes to the templates that my firm uses. And most of them are based on things I've realized while updating them for my own firm.
๐ซ Too busy
๐ซ Too hard to read
๐ซ Too complex to quickly make decisions
The action item ๐
Get a cashflow forecast in place for your firm.
Use the same template you use for your clients.
Critically think about how you're using it and iterate as needed.
We spend a lot of time and energy focused on the financial outcomes for our clients.
A lot of times, that comes at the expense of us neglecting our own financial outcomes.
It's time to stop that.
Write out your goals and then build out your projections so you can understand what it'll take to hit the goals.
Need help with goal setting?
HERE is a video where I walk through how to set goals for your firm.
The action item ๐
Watch the video above and then literally write out your goals. Use your projections to determine how you'll get there. You know, just like you'd do for your clients!
๐ฅ BONUS ACTION ITEM ๐ฅ
"Ambition without a calendar sucks."
- Brendon Burchard
- Michael King
Q: What's the number one reason - BY FAR - that I don't get these things done?
A: I don't put time on my calendar to make sure I do them.
Put time on your calendar my friend.
Your coach,
Michael King
1:1 Coaching with Michael Kingย -Get hands-on support and fast track your firmโs growth by working directly with me.ย
The Inner Circleย - every month my team and I go live and share the most impactful lessons we've learned in our journey to start, scale, and optimize our own Fractional CFO firm (including live Q&A). Plus you'll get access to our private community of nearly 200+ Fractional CFOs.
ย If you'd like more amazing (and free!)ย content about starting, scaling, or optimizing your Fractional CFO firm check outย The CFO Report.
50% Complete
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.