Business Basics column for Alabama Technology Today.

Outsourcing Financial Management Can Save Time, Turbulence and Money

By Marianne Higgins, APR

In the wake of the Enron book-cooking scandal, where can small and start-up companies turn to for assistance to make sure they’re accurately recording their financial activities? One Alabama company, Internal Financial Control Services, Inc., has been helping companies grow, and keeping them out of trouble, for more than two decades.

Twenty-three years ago, finance expert Dwight Brisendine decided he’d had enough of the big corporate machine. Sure, the work was fine. The pay was swell. But having the heart of an entrepreneur, he knew something was missing: he needed to know he was making a difference.

And twenty-three years ago, Brisendine did begin making a difference, as an “outsourced CFO” for small companies throughout Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. He founded Internal Financial Control Services, Inc., (IFC) to provide a variety of financial counseling services to small and start-up companies. In addition to financial management counseling, Brisendine says the truly invaluable commodity he brings to the table is “focus.”

Saving Time
“Executives and managers often spend too much time worrying about the financial picture, and IFC takes over that anxiety, allowing business leaders to focus on the business and the customer,” says Brisendine. “Why would you spend large amounts of time doing what you’re not trained to do? IFC allows companies who need expert assistance to get it when they can’t afford or don’t want to hire a full-time chief financial officer.”

Once such company is TransMolecular Inc., a neuroscience biotechnology company based in Birmingham, Ala. “IFC was enormously helpful in understanding the business needs and model of an early stage biotech company, and providing high quality and accurate financial products,” says Dr. Matt Gonda, President and CEO.

Avoiding Turbulence, Part 1
In the wake of book-cooking scandals like Enron Corp., the Securities and Exchange Commission in June unanimously adopted the establishment of a Public Accountability Board in an effort to “resuscitate the public’s confidence in earnings reports” of publicly traded companies, as reported by Reuter’s News Service. If approved, the Bush administration accounting industry oversight body would have the power to fine auditors or accounting firms, or suspend or bar them from practice. Just two weeks prior, National Public Radio reported on the firing of the CEO of a small California company, held accountable for apparently unrealistic financial projections made by his staff.

Any size company, publicly traded or privately held, can obviously benefit from outside financial consulting.

IFC does some work for medium-size companies, but its heart is in helping the small business owner grow. Services stretch from consulting to hands-on involvement with payroll, billing, accounts receivable and payable, collections, even bank negotiations.

“I can even be the bad guy, when needed by management,” says Brisendine. “Since my staff and I are not invested in the personalities and culture of a company, we can be the ones to take an unpopular line with staff when needed. Difficult steps can carry more weight and avoid personality problems, when coming from an outsider.”

Avoiding Turbulence, Part 2
Landscape architect firm Nimrod Long and Associates of Birmingham found that when a bookkeeper would leave the firm, it would often cause a level of what Long calls “turbulence” in the company until the new employee could get up to speed with the books.

“Our transitional periods were very painful,” says founder Nimrod Long. “Trying to find the right person to replace [the bookkeeper] usually took hiring 2 or 3 people. So for six months, we were in a terrible flux of inefficiency and billing problems. I knew about Dwight, but I really didn’t know if it would be cost effective. Dwight has been with us for five or six years now, and it has been a much better product and service…and very cost effective.”

Saving Money
Brisendine points out that hiring an accountant or finance executive includes paying insurance, providing office space, a phone, a computer, paying for sick leave and vacation, etc. “On average, since IFC brings no overhead cost to the equation, outsourcing to us can cost as little as half of what it would take to hire an employee.”

For Panorama Public Relations, a six-person communications consulting firm with offices in Birmingham and Huntsville, Ala., Brisendine is helping set up new procedures for day-to-day accounting practices, as well providing monthly financial statements and budget projections.

“We can more wisely use our time to focus on clients, which are the heart of our business,” says Darlene Rotch, Panorama’s founder. “In addition to expert financial management, perhaps the most valuable asset Dwight brings to our table is time, which is something one can never recoup.” For Panorama, saving time is saving money.

Time is the other motivator that jump-started Brisendine on the journey that led to the creation of IFC. “Schedule flexibility, allowing for more time with my family, was a big plus for me in starting this company,” he says. “And I can stay connected to my customers from anywhere, as long as I can access email and have an overnight mail service.”

Availability to those business tools has Brisendine now considering a branch office in his hometown of Fort Payne, Ala. “Electronic communications accounts for about half of my business now, which gives me even more flexibility. I no longer worry about having to be a quick car ride away from a client, I really can be anywhere, as long as the people who need me can reach me.”

Which also saves Brisendine time, turbulence and money.