When to hire a finance lead, and when not to

A full-time finance lead is one of the largest hires an owner-run company makes. Hired too early, the role has too little to do and the person leaves. Hired too late, the owner has been doing the job at night for two years.

Signs you need one

The need usually shows up as questions nobody can answer quickly, rather than as a workload problem.

• You cannot say what cash will be in eight weeks.

• Pricing decisions are made without knowing the margin.

• The bank or an investor asks for numbers and it takes a week.

• The owner still approves every payment.

Signs you do not, yet

If the books are up to date, the accounts are filed on time and the owner has a clear monthly view, the company may need a better report rather than a person. A part-time lead for two days a week is often the right step between the two.

“Hire for the decisions you need help with, not for the bookkeeping you are behind on.”

What a part-time lead does first

A thirteen-week cash forecast, a margin review by product or client, and a short weekly report the owner reads on Monday. Those three usually show how much finance work the company really has.

When to make the hire

When the part-time days are always full, and the work is decisions rather than catching up, it is time. The part-time lead can write the job description, sit in on the interviews and hand over cleanly.

The cost of waiting

Owners often wait until the finance work is overwhelming before they hire. By then the person they hire spends their first months cleaning up rather than improving anything, and the owner wonders what they are paying for.

A better test is to look at the decisions of the last quarter. If prices, hires or large purchases were made without the numbers you wanted, the gap is already costing money. That is the moment to bring in help, part-time first, so the role is shaped by real work before it becomes a salary.

Demo article: written to show the layout, not as advice for your company.