How to structure a finance team in the scale up phase: Our Founder Andy shares his expert advice for business owners
“Wow, I think I need to hire a CFO! How big is that!?”
Unsure whether to insource or outsource your accounting & finance team when scaling a new business?
What is the best approach when, you as the CEO has the primary focus of developing the people, product, sales & marketing side of the business?
This is both a daunting moment, but also a cool moment, in the realisation that your business is scaling at a pace where you need a skills set in the business what isn’t product, sales or marketing focused.
My advice is always, don’t underestimate the administrative & commercial value of a best-in-class finance team. Keeping a control on costs, regular commercial insight for decision making, strategic planning & stewardship as you look into the medium-term crystal ball, are all hugely valuable.
The beauty of running a small business, are the decisions you have control of, having that freedom is a huge upside of being an entrepreneur.
I have 20 years’ experience of advising founder led businesses build finance teams. If you would like some advice, please get in touch - below is a high-level perspective on some key bits.
Strategic context:
Modern finance teams are expected to do more than process transactions and produce statutory reports. They are increasingly responsible for commercial insight, forecasting, data quality, risk management, technology adoption, compliance, funding support, and strategic decision-making. At the same time, finance leaders face pressure to reduce cost, improve reporting speed, strengthen controls, and access digital tools such as automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence.
Industry commentary indicates that finance and accounting outsourcing continues to grow as organisations respond to talent shortages, technology demands, and the need for scalable finance operations. However, regulatory expectations around operational resilience, third-party risk, data protection, and governance mean outsourcing must be actively managed rather than treated as a passive supplier arrangement.
Decisions Decisions:
Insourcing is logical…
The company is large enough to justify a full finance department
You are looking to raise finance or prepare to exit
Finance is strategically important to decision-making
You need daily interaction between finance and operations
Complex reporting, budgeting, or compliance requires deep institutional knowledge
Outsourcing makes more sense…
You're a startup or small business
Transaction volume is relatively low
You need expertise but can't afford a full team
You want a CFO, controller, or accounting function without hiring multiple employees
So, in conclusion when the context is SME / scale up mode a hybrid model makes sense. As a rule of thumb, routine and transactional finance activities are easier to outsource, while strategic finance activities are usually better kept in-house.