Why a Sophisticated CFO is Essential for Dealing With Your Business Debt
For entrepreneurs and business owners, using debt is a critical and necessary part of growing a business. That said, not all debt is created equal. Business owners need to have the right structure, the right terms, and the right lender. In order to make a comprehensive debt plan, both sides of the transaction agree, it’s critical for a company to have a sophisticated CFO on its team to ensure the plan is a good fit and doesn’t negatively impact the company down the road.
“Often times, entrepreneurs are focused on running the business and are doing that based on gut and instinct,” explains Ron Wilkowski, director of acquisitions at MJS Investors. “But they need accurate financial statements to provide to their investors or to acquire debt to grow the business.” Wilkowski has worked with Seattle-based Turning Point Consulting numerous times, asking them to step in as a CFO for middle market companies who are struggling to stay afloat or looking to scale their business. In this role, Turning Point provides what any experienced CFO should bring to a financing transaction:
• Accurate and Timely Financials—“A frustration of any debt or equity investor with a company is having financial information that is incomplete or inaccurate,” Wilkowski says. Turning Point helps smooth out the entire process by assisting companies in creating trended, comparative statements that are researched, explained, and include supporting schedules.
• Detailed Projections and Cash Plans—Beyond the annual numbers, Turning Point creates weekly to monthly forecasts featuring the key line items that all investors and lenders are looking for.
• Understanding The Debt—No two companies are the same. Turning Point knows this and examines in-depth financial data to determine a distinctive plan for success, utilizing different debt instruments (or a combination of a few) to help every company they work with achieve short-term and long-term goals.
• Relationships and Connections—Turning Point not only possess a deep knowledge of market trends, they also know the market personally. “Not every banker or every financial institution is the right fit for every borrower,” Wilkowski says. “It saves a lot of time and effort by having advisors that know the financial community and who the right fit is for each need.” Turning Point has had success after success in forming the right relationships at the right time.
From the other side of the table, Wilkowski couldn’t recommend working with an experienced team more. “Trying to save money by not investing in qualified advice inevitably will cost you more,” he says. Turning Point and its team have been assisting middle market companies find the right financing for over 20 years, and through a deep knowledge of the market and commitment to the businesses it works with, has helped countless companies reach their goals.
