In recent years, there’s been a great shift in accounting work from compliance to advisory offerings. Thanks to the latest technological innovations, a lot of previously time-consuming tasks are now automated. This provides accountants with more time to help their clients grow their businesses, while scaling their accounting practices at the same time.

Cloud technology can share data, which makes it easier to synchronize and transfer data between different systems. This kind of software is accessible anywhere and at any time, as long as you have access to the internet.

Consequently, accountants can now fulfil the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at a fraction of the cost of a traditional CFO!

I spoke to Adarsh Dutt, virtual CFO and co-founder of accounting firm, Oyster Hub, which specializes in helping National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) businesses and other not-for-profit organizations, about his experience offering virtual CFO services to businesses.

Adarsh won Australian Intuit QuickBooks’s CFO of the Year in 2021 and is committed to helping clients “grow their business, minimize their tax, and ensure they comply with regulations.” However, he also acknowledges that “money can’t buy you a Saturday or Sunday afternoon with your family.” This is why Adarsh is so focused on making use of the best business tools and technology to help businesses realise their purpose and save them time.

Adarsh Dutt winning QuickBooks' CFO of the Year

Modern technology, like Intuit QuickBooks and Syft Analytics, helps accountants and bookkeepers become trusted advisors and virtual CFOs. They can then assist clients in making smart and timely decisions using real time data and cloud accounting software.

Adarsh and his team rely on Intuit QuickBooks and Karbon workflow management to run the business and automate many tasks. When it comes to reporting and analytics, they use Syft Analytics, which helps them generate crucial insights that are easy to understand.

Syft provides you with real-time reporting and analytics to gain insight into your clients' financial condition. Adarsh finds the Syft consolidated report particularly useful as it compiles multiple consolidated entities into a single view.

Technology saves Oyster Hub time, money, and the need to conduct monotonous labor. Adarsh estimates that the tools he uses save him approximately 6,300 hours and (Aus) $218,000 in non-productive work or the equivalent of the work of two staff members. In an interview with Karbon, Ardash said:

“When it is used in the right context, technology can help mental wellbeing and give more time to do the things we love. That’s the philosophy we have and that’s why we named our firm Oyster Hub. The world is an oyster, and we help you find the pearl.”

Thanks to technology, Adarsh and his team have been able to move towards virtual CFO services and have received 6 nominations in the Australian accounting awards!

Many small businesses fail within the first three years for reasons such as:

These are problems that can be avoided with the help of a virtual CFO. Virtual CFOs are well positioned to assist business owners with long-term strategic and financial planning. They work with various business drivers and report on performance based on these drivers, which can then be used in planning and forecasting.

A CFO analyzes your data and suggests changes you can make to your business operations which could help you:

Gone are the days when only big companies made use of financial advisory services.

Intuit QuickBooks Awards Ceremony

Full-time CFOs charge anywhere from (Aus) $175,000 to $48,000 per year. If you are struggling to grow your business, this cost will limit your resources and may even hinder growth. However, Virtual CFO plans are much more affordable.

Oyster Hub’s plans start from $650 per month ($7,800 per year) and include a wide array of helping virtual CFO services, such as:

This means that what is traditionally considered a service that only bigger businesses can afford to have is now available to SMEs as well.

A virtual CFO may offer you a customized service based on your needs and budget, not charging you for services you don’t need. They will grow alongside you and your business, acknowledging that, after your business grows beyond a certain point, they will become redundant as you hire an in-house, full-time CFO.

Virtual CFOs have deep industry knowledge and diverse financial expertise. Most virtual CFOs will specialize in a certain industry, while dipping into work for clients from other industries here and there. This means that they accumulate a lot of helpful knowledge about your industry alongside knowledge learned in very different scenarios.

There are a number of different reasons you would want to use the services of a CFO in your SME. These include:

Virtual CFOs help you to review and optimize your accounting systems.

As an SME, you probably already have a bookkeeper who helps you manage your finances but, as your business grows, you’ll need more specialized help when it comes to business advice and your increasing financial obligations.

This is where a Virtual CFO steps in to:

And with the help of Syft’s AI-generated insights, Virtual CFOs can deliver valuable insights in a matter of minutes!

Oyster Hub uses Syft’s reporting and analytics software to provide clients with key financial information in the form of visualizations. Syft’s software distils financial information into easy to understand graphs, tables, and color-coded commentary.

“We teach our clients how to utilize modern technology to gain more time so that they can enjoy the most important things in their life.” - Adarsh Dutt, Oyster Hub

Oyster Hub leverages the information provided by Syft to draw a road map and unlock their clients’ full potential.