by Denis Reinhardt
The role of the finance business partner is already firmly established in large corporations and encompasses a wide range of tasks and interfaces, from treasury and controlling to financial planning and analysis. These terms cover a wide range of tasks that are performed by a variety of experts. In medium-sized companies, these departments are often bundled together under commercial management, if they exist at all. This is also feasible for micro-enterprises, but the requirements quickly exceed the available capacities.
Professional finances without incurring structural costs
At this point, management must either continue to invest in the finance department or accept that important evaluations, planning, and analyses will not be processed at all or not in a timely manner. Investing in the finance department is primarily unattractive because it increases fixed costs and, especially in the initial phase, the new position is not always fully utilized. An attractive alternative is therefore to commission external experts for this area. This allows the company’s needs to be met flexibly and precisely.
Well-coordinated team and cross-industry expertise
Another advantage of external finance business partners is that tasks that are typically only performed once a year are performed several times, allowing these issues to be dealt with efficiently and in a structured manner. This routine ensures that finance business partners are familiar with the relevant issues at all times and can immediately generate added value for customers. Working with multiple customers also allows best practices to be identified and cross-industry knowledge to be gathered.
Use of existing structures, templates, and software
In addition to existing knowledge and expertise, the existing and proven templates are also a great added value that external partners offer their customers. The structure is also predetermined by existing processes, which leads to greater efficiency and more regulated responsibilities. This means that processes do not first have to be defined and tested. Any initial difficulties have already been overcome. The costs of special software for creating planning models or liquidity plans are also not always proportional to the added value they generate for a medium-sized company. Here, customers also benefit from the advantages of this software without having to bear the structural costs.
The importance of a strong network
The regional network should not be underestimated either. Thanks to a large number of successfully acquired financing arrangements, regular reporting, and accompanied annual financial statements, the group has access to an established banking network. This enables more open communication and also creates trust in the reports produced.
Independent critical review
Another factor provided by external finance business partners is the critical scrutiny and independent review of documents. The involvement of external finance business partners adds another pair of eyes to the process, resulting in better data quality and external validation. This provides external financing partners, as well as the company’s own management, with a greater degree of reliability in the financial figures.
Your contact person
Torsten Bode
Manager, i-unit group
+49 531 108 593 34
