The finance function: how to organise it for your size and stage
Structure your finance department for your size and maturity. Roles, responsibilities and organisational models for SMEs, scale-ups and mid-caps.
Co-founder and CFO, Iter Advisors
Remember in 30 seconds
A finance set-up that makes clear who prepares the figures, who checks them and who decides. The choice between an in-house team, an accounting firm and a part-time CFO depends on flows, skills and the availability required.
The finance function organises the company's data, forecasts and decisions. Its structure depends on the entities, the flows and the skills available. A Fractional CFO can coordinate this work with your team and your accountant.
1. Why structure your finances?
Start with the problems you can see: late reporting, unpredictable cash, missing invoices or scattered responsibilities. The aim is to know which figures are reliable, which decisions they inform and who follows up on actions. A well-organised finance function guarantees neither funding nor growth.
2. Organisation models by complexity
Turnover is one indicator among others. Two companies of the same size may have different needs depending on their inventory, entities, financing and tools.
A company with simple flows
The founder can keep the decisions and rely on the accounting firm for the work set out in its engagement letter. An internal contact gathers documents, tracks deadlines and prepares the information. One-off finance support helps build a first budget or forecast.
An SME whose management becomes recurring
A finance manager, a financial controller or a CFO can organise reporting, budget and cash. The level of seniority depends on the decisions to prepare and the operational work already covered. Part-time support fits if the scheduled availability meets the need; a daily presence may justify a hire.
A more complex group or activity
Several entities, large inventories or a financing transaction may require distinct responsibilities in accounting, management control, treasury and group coordination. Sizing is done based on workload and skills, without a universal ratio between finance staff and turnover.
3. Essential roles
This framework must be adapted to your delegations and contracts. She distinguishes between preparation, control and decision.
| Work | Preparation | Control and decision |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices and documents | Operations and accounting team | Accounting manager according to the agreed process |
| Cash flow forecast | Finance, with dates confirmed by operational staff | CFO: review of hypotheses; manager: arbitrations |
| Reporting and budget | Management control or finance manager | CFO: consistency; leader: decisions and priorities |
| Accounts and declarations | Accounting team and firm, each within its remit | Responsibilities defined in mandates and engagement letters |
4. The 5 key processes
- Collect and reconcile: documents, bank, invoices and entries. Anomalies have someone responsible.
- Close: agree on a timetable with the firm and identify the still provisional figures.
- Explain: reconcile actuals with budget, analyse margins and prepare decisions.
- Provide: update cash and scenarios according to new information.
- Follow: keep the decisions, their responsible person, their deadline and their status in the next point.
A monthly calendar can provide for data collection, a review of anomalies, then a management meeting. Dates depend on your sources and speakers. The outsourced management control illustrates this review; the cash flow forecast completes the profitability reading.
5. Transition and growth
Review the set-up when a signal appears: more entities, recurring delays, dependence on one person, investor reporting or an acquisition. Start by mapping tasks and access. Then define the priority work, cover during absences and what a successful handover looks like.
The Opti Digital case describes a structuring engagement combining ERP, close and reporting. It shows the work involved, without turning that experience into a guaranteed result for another company.
6. The hybrid model: in-house and outsourced
An internal core can manage daily operations, while a part-time CFO prepares reviews and more complex projects. The contract specifies the responsibilities, the pace, the exchanges between interventions and the transition to an internal team if necessary.
Compare the options on the same scope: availability, skills, tools, coordination and continuity. The recurring formulas Iter range from €3,000 to €8,000 excluding tax per month. This amount does not represent the total cost of your finance function: accounting, internal resources and separate projects remain to be examined.
Organise your finance function
Tell us about your tools, deadlines and the responsibilities already covered. The first conversation scopes the need; an in-depth analysis and action plan are defined in a quoted engagement.
Describe my organisational needCheck out our support in outsourced financial management for the organisational work, deliverables and follow-up arrangements.
If the need concerns a new position, start by defining its responsibilities before recruit a finance profile. Recruitment and financial management are two distinct scopes.
