All posts by admin

Finding the Right Chief Financial Officer in Australia for your Company.

The key to success in any hiring process is finding the right fit for your organisation. You need to look for someone who suits your organisation’s needs, interests and culture. Finding the right Chief Financial Officer for your company is no exception and requires a lot of efforts since finding the right professional can be challenging. Companies need to decide what type of role they want their CFO to play and what challenges he will have to address.

Know your organisation

Just like candidates go for an interview being aware of their skills, abilities and interests, companies and their teams need to comprehend what truly defines best fit for them. The senior personnel should determine the qualities that a new Chief Financial Officer should possess to work efficiently with them as well as in the company as a whole. Remember, a good fit does not mean finding a clone of your former CFO or other senior managers, especially when you are looking for an individual whose skills, experience and expertise complement those of your current team members or when you wish to grow your organisation to a new level.

Fit with organisational culture can be a complex issue, especially when hiring someone with formal training in accounting and finance or appointing someone for CFO position. How will you determine that a particular individual is the one you want to work with? Chances are that the other person might have different priorities. But, maybe the reason behind appointing a CFO is to bring someone with different priorities in your firm.

Define the role

Defining the role of a Chief Financial Officer is one of the main requirements to find the right individual. A clear understanding of what you expect your CFO to do for you can help you find out what you are looking for in your Chief Financial Officer.

There are a few common characteristics that should be common for all CFOs. For instance, an ideal candidate is someone who is good in accounting and finance, thinks strategically, can effectively communicate with others, is capable of translating and teaching financial literacy, uses a proactive approach to solve a problem and works to accomplish goals of an organisation.

Other responsibilities of a CFO vary according to the needs of a company. If you are hiring your first CFO, you need to determine why you are creating this position to gain clarity as to what will be the tasks that your chosen professional will have to perform and what skills you look for in your candidate. Usually, companies introduce CFO position to address these following needs:

Building company’s capacity to manage its finances as it grows

Reducing workload of Chief Operating Officers in the area of finance

Bringing a high-level perspective to accounting and financial needs of a company

Educating team members on finance literacy and partner with Chief Operating Officers for decision making

For companies looking to appoint a Chief Financial Officer Australia or anywhere round the globe, it is essential to consider organisation’s needs and plans for growth. Remember, the right CFO can help in desired growth of your company.

Apr 25 2016

0 Comments

Independent Director in Sydney: An important asset of your organisation

Bringing a mix of skills, experience and connections to your company, board members can see a value in your idea since they have worked in your industry. They might have worked for a competitor or some prospective partner and can provide you with industry insight, offering market benefits. The network they have or build in future is crucial. They should be capable of connecting you with other advisors, resources and investors so as to support your business.

After an organisation is funded, business owners usually form a team of five Board of Directors. Among these five members, two are generally the “Investor Directors”, the seed investors or the venture capitalists who control the designation of these seats as part of their investment agreement with the firm. The third director is typically the CEO, that is, one of the founders of the company. The remaining two directors are known as “Independent Directors”. Although they are not institutional investors, their contribution can be more than any financial investment.

Independent Directors play same role as that of other Board Members. Their vote matters and they perform several fiduciary and governance responsibilities under State Law, such as equity issuance, approving stock grants, electing company’s corporate officers and executive compensation. However, your relationship with your Independent Directors can be different from that with your Investor Directors or resident directors.

Owing to his role of being a manager of venture capital or other funds, your Investor Director has certain contractual as well as legal duties and obligations to partners investing in those funds. These obligations and duties can at times conflict with what is beneficial for your business, leading to dispute between Investor Directors and Management. In such a scenario, it is necessary to have someone to support you. This is when your Independent Directors can help you. They can handle these complex situations smartly and act as a mediator when you are at odds with your Investor Directors. Likewise, discussions related to executive compensation are usually awkward. After you have worked for your product for little or no money, you want to get paid once your company is funded and your product is showing traction. This is when an Independent Director can make recommendations related to executive compensation. Getting these suggestions from someone professional can be really beneficial for your business.

How to choose an Independent Director?

Generally, choosing an Independent Director is up to your Investor Director. Sometimes, an Independent Director is mutually known or the investors might choose him based on his experience and skills. Make sure to think about the help you need and comprehend what experience and skills he brings to your business.

It is important to have an Independent Director who has been there to guide you, either as a business owner or a board. The experience they hold really matters since they not only help you tackle difficult situations, but also offer credibility while advocating on your behalf. It is essential to determine if they will be able to help you when:

>> You are looking at down-round financing and you wish to negotiate terms with your current investors
>> You manage a reduction in force and seek economical severance package for your team
>> Board members are ready to bring an experienced CEO to an organisation

In addition, following are a few situations where an Independent Director can be helpful:

>> Managing a Board is a complex task and your Independent Directors can effectively handle this job for you.
>> With the growth of your business, your Board will form committees, usually compensation and audit committees. Your Independent Directors are a part of these committees and can have a fair bit of influence.
>> When it comes to approval of interested transactions, your Independent Directors Sydney, or elsewhere round the globe, play chief role.

An Independent Director is someone you will turn to for finding creative ways to address the concerns expressed by other Board members, seek honest suggestions and share hard truths with. So, make sure to choose your Independent Director wisely, find out what he has to offer and you will surely find a professional who is there to help you and your business succeed.

Apr 16 2016

0 Comments

Guide to efficient business financial planning

Each entrepreneur, regardless of the size and nature of business he is running, faces financial problems at one point or another. Right financial planning and efficient business strategies make it easier to overcome such problems.

Primarily, it is vital to understand that to begin with financial planning and to identify the areas of financial concern, your business need not already be insolvent or in deep financial trouble. Generally, it is merely a signal for you to explore areas that require improvement and build new strategies so as to prevent business failure. If you are waiting for the right time to begin financial planning, now is the time because while you think that your business is the only one experiencing financial challenges, your competitors might also be thinking the same. So, don’t waste time waiting for that right moment. In fact, come up with efficient business plans to safeguard your business from financial problems.

Here are three tips that can help you with effective financial planning.

Remember, money is needed to make money

There is no secret to it that cash is king in the business world. Entrepreneurs of all world are well versed with it. Money is required for marketing and to ensure operations run smoothly. The cash position of business determines its financial strength and liquidity.

It is always beneficial to look for new ways to make money for your business in order to maximize reserves. Build a strategy to streamline payment collection process so that you can settle payments faster to benefit your business as well as your clients.

Don’t forget to balance sales and profits

Businesses running at a small scale usually face the risk of getting good sales, but losing profit share. They generally suffer from low profit. This means that there are chances of over spending or hidden costs in business operations. Always make sure to keep your expenses under control.

Remember, business planning can make a large and positive difference for your business. Formulate a strategy that enables you as well as your staff to monitor cash flow. Make sure that you are able to closely supervise all financial transactions at all time. Keep receipts and invoices as doing so can help you with tax compliance.

If your business requires you to buy raw materials or stuff to manufacture products, make sure to do right purchasing for your business. Buy the right materials or supplies at economical prices from reliable suppliers to add more value to your products as well as services.

Seek professional help

Business owners already have to work hard to manage their business and additional financial management can be nightmare for them. Thus, no matter whether you are a small, mid-sized or large business, seeking outside help for managing business finances is recommended.

You can opt for virtual CFO services. A virtual CFO offers high skill assistance in financial requirements of your business. He takes care of financial planning, maintains and reports on financial activities and manages financial risks related to business. Apart from this, he works as a bookkeeper of the client and takes responsibility to ensure accuracy of account books. Besides, he performs the job of interpreting financial information from the accounting data to the client. Being qualified and experienced, chief financial officer can also suggest possible measures to control expenses and acquire capital at low cost.

However, make sure that the person you appoint as your bookkeeper or advisor understands what it takes for effective business financing and accounting. Most importantly, he should be trustworthy and reliable since he will be the one handling all your business’s financial aspects. Outsourcing a virtual CFO Sydney can greatly help you with financial planning and analysis. In addition, it can help your business accomplish long-term financial goals.

No matter what type of financial problem your business faces, you can overcome these challenges and enhance your business performance as long as you build and implement right strategies. Invest in effective business planning assistance to safeguard your business from financial challenges. Look for seasoned, dependable and qualified professionals to ensure your business’s financial operations are carefully performed and all financial needs are attentively taken care of.

Proactive CFOs provide reliable Financial Services in Sydney for your business.

Mar 18 2016

0 Comments

Role of Company Secretary in Austraila: Why you need one for your business?

When we think of a company secretary, we picture a person answering calls and managing appointments. However, responsibilities of a company secretary include lot more than this. Considered an officer of an organisation, he shares several legal duties with company directors. It is his responsibility to file annual returns and other documents, usually on an annual basis. Besides, he is responsible for scheduling board meetings as well as other internal administrative matters.

Considering the heavily administrative nature of the role played by a company secretary, it is needless to say that the professional you choose should be motivated, organised and should be well versed with the internal working of your organization, and its legal duties.

Apart from filling annual returns, a company secretary takes charge of director’s reports. This includes a document containing the state of the company, along with the names of the secretary and director approving the accounts. This document is filed annually and all the financial statements, along with the details of the company’s liabilities and assets are included. Besides, the company secretary is also responsible for filing auditor’s reports, but that would be needed if your business’ annual turnover is more than a specific amount that depends on the location of your business.

The other duties of company secretary include:

Maintaining the company’s registered office

This is necessarily not the address from which the company actually operates. It is company secretary’s responsibility to ensure that you receive all correspondence sent to that address. He needs to make sure that the registered name of the company clearly appears outside the registered office and other places of business. Any change in company’s registered address is informed to ASIC by the company secretary.

Taking care of important legal documents

Legal documents include constitution, share certificate and share transfers, any certificates related to the change of name, the company’s seal and director’s service contracts. All these documents have to be carefully taken care of by the secretary.

Maintaining the company’s statutory needs

It includes minutes of general and board meetings, a register of shareholders, a register of directors, any charges applicable to the company’s assets as well as a register of debenture holders. It is the duty of Company Secretary to look after all statutory needs and ensure everything is in place.

Informing important changes

ASIC needs to be informed when certain changes are made in the company. This includes allotment of new shares, change to the make-up of the board of directors and more. When such changes are made in the company, it is the duty of company secretary to inform the ASIC about the same.

What other ways can a company secretary serve your business?

Be it a full time or part time Company Secretary, he plays an important role in effective administration of business. Particularly, his duties include scheduling board meetings and ensuring that precise minutes of meeting are taken as well as signed. Besides, he is also responsible for arranging Annual General Meetings (AGM). Although such meetings are no longer needed for privately listed companies, they are required if a company has traded shares.

When appointed in smaller companies, the secretary takes on some additional responsibility for things such as PAYE and payroll, GST registration, pensions, taking care of company’s offices and legal matters. Besides, he has to take responsibility for signing off documents, such as those related to accounts and leases, on board’s behalf.

A company secretary is an important part of a company, whether large or small. The duties performed by him can help a business grow. Companies that cannot afford services of a full time secretary can opt for part time company secretary services. Professionals offering such services perform duties of a full time secretary, but charge relatively less for the same.

For any company appointing a secretary, it is important to provide him some training and advice to help him understand the duties involved in the role.

Feb 26 2016

0 Comments

Understanding the Duties of a Company Secretary in Sydney and across Australia.

Holding a senior position in a public or private sector organization, a Company Secretary is responsible for effective administration of a firm, particularly in terms of ensuring adherence to statutory and regulatory needs and to ensure implementation of decisions taken by the Board of Directors.

It is the duty of a Company secretary to ensure that the company adheres to relevant regulation and legislation, informing the board members about their legal responsibilities. Serving as names representatives on legal documents for a company, they make sure that the organization, as well as the directors, function within the law. Their duty requires them to register and interact with stakeholders to ensure payment of dividends and to maintain records of an organization, such as lists of shareholders and directors, along with annual accounts.

Appointing a company secretary is a law in many countries that the private companies have to comply with and the chosen professional usually becomes a senior board member. According to Companies Law, only a listed firm is required to have a full time secretary while a single member company that is not a public company needs to appoint a secretary.

Functions of a Company Secretary

Duties generally performed by a Company Secretary include:

Secretarial Functions

The wide set of responsibilities undertaken include:

To make sure that the rules and bye-laws of a company are strictly adhered to

To ensure that company’s affairs are managed as per its objects described in the articles of association and provisions of companies law

To prepare the agenda after discussion with the Chairman and on the basis of other documents for all meetings of the Board of Directors

To attend board meetings to ensure all legal needs are met, and to provide necessary information

To arrange annual and extraordinary meetings for an organization, with the consultation of chairman, and attend the same to ensure adherence to legal requirements and to maintain accurate record thereof.

To arrange and hold meetings of the board and to prepare accurate records of proceedings

To deal with the matters related to allotment of shares and issue of share certificates, including maintenance of statutory share register and conducting relevant activities related to share transfer.

To prepare, approve and seal lease agreements, legal forms, along with other official documents on company’s behalf, after they are authorized by Board of Directors or the executive responsible.

To advise on legal matters, in conjunction with company solicitors, to the chief executive as and when required.

To defend the rights of an organization in Courts of Law.

In addition to secretarial functions, a Company Secretary performs legal duties, including:

Filling of returns and documents as needed by the Companies Law

To ensure legal requirements for allotment, issue and transfer of share certificates, mortgages have been adhered to

To arrange meetings of directors, as needed

To inform each director of the company about the agenda of board meetings

To record minutes of proceedings of meetings

To ensure accurate implementation of policies formulated by the directors

To deal with and maintain correlation between the company and shareholders

To inform the shareholders about the agenda of meetings

To handle payment of dividend within stipulated time as stated by the Companies Law

Indubitably, company secretary services are vital for any company, regardless of its size. Even though a Company Secretary enjoys certain rights and power, depending on the terms of his contract with the company, there are some restrictions to his power, such as:

Distribution and transfer of shares

A Company Secretary does not hold the right to distribute or transfer any share if he is not authorized to do so by the Board of Directors.

Duty as company agent

He cannot be a part of any meeting as a company agent without the approval of Board of Directors. He would need their consent to sign any contract for the company.

Loan

He cannot take loan in the name of the company and if he does so, the company does not take any responsibility for it.

The duties performed by a Company Secretary are manifold. He is one of the most important professionals in a company. Many firms have the confusion of choosing between full time and part time company secretary services. Each option comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Consider your needs and preferences prior to making the final decision.

Feb 5 2016

0 Comments

A few tips for effective fund raising

No matter whether you are a startup company or a five year old business, the need for fund raising is realized by all. But, what type of fund raising is good for you, what are the factors worth considering prior to fund raising- all these and similar questions must be addressed before beginning with the venture.
Once you have found your answers, you are all set to look for opportunities to raise funds. Below mentioned are a few tips that can help avoid wasting of time and efforts during the process.

Set your expectations

Starting with fund raising, it is crucial to comprehend that the process demands time, in fact plenty of time, along with a well-planned strategy. Reason being, there are multitude of organizations competing for funds. Additionally, the grind of capital raising each year leads to internal motivation and image problem, particularly when the organization is unable to achieve sustainability after some years.

Make certain to set highly focused, long-term goals, similar to your strategy.

Elaborate your value proposition

Donors are interested in knowing whether or not the money they offer will be used for processes other than just incremental changes. The higher the amount of funds you are seeking, bigger should be the impact you have on the donors. Represent yourself as more than flowery vision and build a transformation statement.

Clearly explain how your organization would make a positive difference to the world.

Know your Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

An effective selling tool to build is clearly knowing your internal rate of return. The IRR provides a picture of how donor’s money would help an organization to move forward, towards sustainability. This is usually beneficial for large donors who are interested in knowing whether their money will help a company to turn into a long-term sustainable organization, so that it would not realize the need for funds in future, or it will only proffer short term benefit.

Provide training to your team

While opting for fund raising Sydney, it is viable to know that there are diverse roles in its strategy. It is crucial to assign these roles to right individuals within your organization. Know who could successfully play the role of engagers, askers, connectors and stewards in your company.

If you are devoted to raise notable amount of money, consider of looking for professional help. A seasoned and reliable chief financial officer (CFO) can help you in your venture. Owing to his experience, expertise and network, he can take your business to a next level.

Even though hiring a professional for fund raising can be expensive, the positive results they can bring to your fund raising venture are worth the investment.

Know your audience

When the non-profit teams wish to acquire support of large foundations, it is important to understand that majority of these foundations serve as one time donors. Reason being, they aim at increasing their brand recognition, while hoping that their contribution allows your organization to gain desired success.

Thus, whenever you receive support the second time, celebrate the moment. This means that you are successfully accomplishing your goals and are satisfying current donors.

Stick to your strategy

Responsibilities and uncertainties are the common reasons that can divert you from your fund raising strategy. It is easy to drift from your goals and objectives.

To deal with this situation, prioritize your plans and regularly review progress reports to determine if there is anything, changing which can improve the results.

Be creative

Build creative strategies to leave a positive impact on donors. For example, you can request your donor to create a matching gift to receive which your firm has to raise matching capital within stipulated time. This helps your donors to know how serious you are about raising funds.

Being an entrepreneur, you might be well versed with the challenges involved in raising capital. However, dedicated assistance of a CFO can reduce the efforts required in the same. If you are a small company, opting for services of a part time CFO makes an ideal choice for you. These professionals offer similar services of a full time CFO, but at relatively lower prices. You can equally benefit from services offered by them.

Fund raising is important for any company to grow and expand, so take your decisions carefully.

Sep 25 2015

0 Comments

Mergers, acquisition, or sale

We help businesses improve their odds of success through an integrated, time-tested approach that combines acquisition strategy, diligence, and merger integration. We can assist you with conducting due diligence on a proposed acquisition and with raising conditional financing in relation to an acquisition. Additionally, we can help you to find a target business for acquisition.

Jul 23 2015

0 Comments

Role of CFO to Obtain Funding

There are different types of business activities that need to be performed by the business owners. They have to quantify the performance of the business through the financial statements. When you are going to use these statements related to the funds, they describe the sources and utilizations of the resources of your company. In order to centralize the administration of these resources, business owners prefer to hire a chief financial officer or CFO. The role of the CFO is divided into three major sections to understand the job for any kind of business. Take a look at below mentioned important facts about the role of a CFO to get funding:

Treasury responsibilities

A CFO can be held responsible for the present financial condition of a particular company. He or she needs to determine on how to invest the money of the company to get huge revenue and profit in different manners. It takes the liquidity and risk into consideration. The CFO needs to decide on the best combination of equity, dent and internal financing. Additionally, he or she manages the company’s capital structure and is also responsible for solving problems related to it.

Controllership responsibilities

These are the duties that can make up the diffident looking section on the role of a chief financial officer. With these types of duties, a CFO needs to understand that he has to present and report the relevant and timely information related to the funds of a particular company, for which he or she has hired. There are different stakeholders of the company, including creditors, shareholders, analysts and other management members. All of them are dependent on the timeliness and accuracy of the information provided by the CFO. He or she needs to decide that whether he or she is going to provide with the accurate financial information as it places impact on the financial aspect of the company. With the use of this financial information, a lot of decisions will be taken, leading towards the success of a company.

Economic approach and forecasting

As mentioned above, the CFO is responsible for the present or previous financial condition of the company, with which he or she is associated. But not only this, the CFO is an integral component that affects the future of the financial situation of the company. He or she must be capable of detecting and reporting the regions of the company that are not so much efficient and reliable. The CFO needs to give his or her suggestions to the company’s management members on how to increase the capital of the company. A CFO must be capable of projecting the long term image of the company’s financial statement.

Some duties, such as budgeting, benchmarking, financial analysis and forecasting, executive reporting and management, needs to be performed by the CFO. There are lots of business advisory companies available in different parts of the world, offering services by assigning a professional CFO to the particular company, which are in a need of evaluating the financial information to get more funds to raise capital.

Jan 7 2015

0 Comments

Business Advisors in Sydney – Assisting Commercial Entities in establishing successful businesses.

There are many people who dream to have their own business but managing a business is not easy and it is going to take lots of sweat and money to establish a successful business. For everything you will need a business financial plan. There is a wide range of disciplines and activities revolving around the money management and valuable assets. In simple words it is an act of bringing finance into business or organization. There are number of ways by which business can be financed and each of them is having their own advantages and disadvantages. Overall it is a complicated process and you will need the aid of the chief financial officer. Here is a comprehensive guide on the business finance complexities and how professional finance advisors can ease down them for you.

Tax planning

This is the most complicated issue that you will have to deal with. Financial situations and goals of a business keeps on changing, they are never constant. This will in turn change your taxable income management. For all these you will need a financial advisor that can aid you in keeping up with the plans aligned with your existing needs. They are also aware of the tax benefits in business.

Business assessment

To make your business successful you will need time to time business valuation. Your business advisors can do this on your behalf. They can aid you in assessing your business and also integrating that vital information with your financial situation in your business. This provides the business owners with a precise view about the plan that you can design for future.

Business protection

This is the first thing that is going to come in your mind when you are going to establish business. There are huge risks involved in business as well as profits. Professional advisors can explain the benefits of developing protection and insurance plans according to the size of your business. Business can likely invite events of failure and disruption; your employees might face disability and resign. In such cases a protection plan is a must.

Succession planning

There are plenty of needs and requirements that we have, when it comes to business. Some want to establish it so that they can pass it on to the next generation or another organization. For all this detailed planning is required. Business advisors can aid you in laying out succession plan that can meet all your personal as well as business needs.

Employee benefits and retirement plans

Offering benefits is the key to attract and also retain old employees. Because your employees are the one who are running your business successfully it is important that you think about sharing some benefit with them. This is a very strong strategy that definitely works. Your financial advisor is going to provide you with strategies that will work best for you. Everyone is going to enjoy working in your organization.

Whatever are your business finance needs, a professional finance advisor can help you in walking out safely and successfully. It is must to hire them for your business growth , finance needs and cash flow solutions Sydney.

Dec 19 2014

0 Comments

Few trends showing Corporate Governance and Repsonsibilty will stay

Corporate governance has gained a much higher profile in the last few decades in the wake of various corporate scandals and collapses. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is now becoming much more a part of mainstream corporate governance as there is a recognition that a company cannot have in the long-term to operate in isolation from the wider society in which it operates. Regardless of whether you call it CSR, corporate responsibility, environmental, social and corporate governance or sustainability, a common understanding is emerging around the world: a company’s long-term financial success goes hand in hand with its record on social responsibility, environmental stewardship and corporate ethics.

The broadest way of defining social responsibility is to say that the continued existence of companies is based on an implied agreement between business and society and that the essence of the contract between society and business is that companies shall not pursue their immediate profit objectives at the expense of the longer-term interests of the community.

The costs to business and society of getting it wrong and the benefits of getting it right are increasingly apparent. However, the question remains whether this is a passing trend or one that will continue to reshape the profile of business. Several big trends indicate that corporate sustainability is here to stay:

1. Transparency
If a company is transparent enough and reports material facts in real time, stakeholders will have more confidence in the management. Consequently, they will be more willing to invest in the company, thereby reducing the cost of capital. Transparency also helps those in charge to avoid fraud and put measures in place against it. All these factors put together enable the firm’s productive capacity and productivity to improve.

2. Trust
The ever-growing impact of business on society means that citizens and consumers expect corporate power to be exerted responsibly. As citizens more often are sceptical, self-organised and prone to challenge authority, the corporate community will have to raise its learning curve on building trust. This means being proactive and thorough in how a company views its responsibilities and impacts on society, and then showing how it manages operations accordingly.

3. Community participation
Companies that collaborate with scientists, civil society and public regulators and show early on that they are part of the solution will come out ahead. Environmental issues are a good example of this.

4. Accessing new markets responsibly
Business is moving from resource taker to market builder. With economic growth migrating southward and eastward, foreign direct investment is becoming more about building and gaining access to new markets and less about simply exploiting low-cost inputs.

5. Initiatives to engage companies
Means for engaging in corporate sustainability are plentiful and growing. Initiatives, standards and consultancies are booming at national and global levels.

6. Going Global
The relentless march toward globalization will continue to stretch the scope of corporate responsibility. Corporate social responsibility leaders will be increasingly accountable for responsible behavior all along their supply chains.

For business, environmental, social and governance responsibilities are no longer add-ons. Corporate governance and corporate responsibility are intertwined. There is increasing influence from shareholders, other stakeholders, and also government/international legislation.They are integral to success.

While the great majority of companies have yet to commit to this trajectory, there is a strong upward growth curve in actively engaged companies, with a vanguard taking serious action in all key markets. The growing feeling is that corporate sustainability has drawn a line in the sand, and it’s best for business to get on the right side.

Oct 1 2014

0 Comments