In the new economy, business decisions have become more complex and business owners have come to rely more and more on outsourcing important parts of their business to a variety of financial service providers. The following questions and many more are constantly popping up:
1. What are the tax & accounting issues I need to be aware of when I sign a contract or a license?
2. What financial structure is best for my business from a financial and tax view?
3. What financial statements do I need to have on a regular basis to run my business effectively?
Now that the cash is beginning to roll in, you have to ask yourself a critical question. Who should I trust to guide me through the many financial and tax decisions that I have to make in the coming months and years? These questions and many more will require that you not just hire a part-time CFO, tax consultant or personal financial planner, but a seasoned financial AND tax consultant who has had experience with ALL of the financial & tax areas which impact your business.
Thus the emergence of a new financial service professional which we call the FinancialCSO (Community Sustainability officer). The duties of the FinancialCSO(sm) are as follows:
- to help identify all of the major financial & tax risks that a business & business owner will face throughout their life.
- to provide a single point of contact who will be responsible for the mitigation of these business and personal financial risks.
- to provide services internally (when we run with the ball) to mitigate certain risks and to identify external CPA's or other service providers who can mitigate the remainder of these risks (when we pass the ball to someone else).
Here is an example of three types of service providers who we "pass the ball" to:
