vcfo Austin Success Stories

Organizations turn to vcfo for diverse finance, recruiting and HR solutions. Find out how vcfo Austin has helped its customers.

Restating Records for Non-Profit from Loss to Profit

One month before year-end, a non-profit charity had two key financial employees leave the company – the VP of finance and controller. While they had an accounting team, the company lacked the financial leadership and knowledge to close the books and complete an audit. Additionally, the CEO wanted to review their accounting system processes to identify areas of concern and implement efficient improvement.

Once vcfo was brought on board, a consulting CFO and controller completed an initial assessment of the accounting records, corrected the records, and correctly restated results from a $250,000 loss to a positive net income. In the process vcfo helped the company complete their audit in record time.

Based on feedback and information from the initial financial assessment, the CFO and controller made recommendations and implemented new processes to improve internal controls, monthly close and cash management. Five months after engaging with vcfo, the company hired a full-time CFO, whose transition was supported by vcfo’s Consulting CFO. The company’s CEO and CFO continue to leverage vcfo’s Consulting Controller for additional bandwidth and support.

Technology Company Needing Financial Mentorship and Reporting

An innovative drug development and technology company engaged vcfo to review current reporting processes and structure, make recommendations for reporting improvements and ensure GAAP compliance. Serving in a mentorship capacity, vcfo deployed a Consulting CFO to work side-by-side with the company’s Director of Finance.

Together, they reviewed the company’s current structure and reporting history, and discussed methods for improving the chart of accounts and created a reporting structure that can be better used for operations management. Within a month, they brought the financial statements from a mixed cash and accrual method to one that was completely accrual and in line with GAAP standards. Additionally, vcfo restructured the chart of accounts to properly represent the company’s manufacturing environment, corrected their representation of fixed assets and trained staff on best practices. The engagement also improved the managerial and financial reporting of the operations through more efficient monthly closing processes.

Providing Structure for Successful Start-up

A start-up company, which provides an online database used by the oil and gas industry, was seeing great success. The company was managed by two creative entrepreneurs who had limited financial and operational accounting experience, but wanted to ensure they established a solid foundation for their company.

While they knew they needed support, the owners did not want a resource to come in and take care of all of the financial and back office functions. Instead, they wanted to be hands-on throughout the process so they could manage this part of their business moving forward. They decided they needed a resource who could provide the strategic infrastructure and show them how to manage the daily execution tasks.

Needing a resource to reach these goals, the start-up engaged a vcfo Controller to mentor the COO and assist with the bookkeeping, payroll and reporting functions. The Controller laid the basis for accounting and financial reporting to ensure that investors were able to see accurate, relevant and GAAP-compliant information. Not only did the Controller make sure the books were accurate and reconciled, but she worked directly with the owners to review the books, wrap up any outstanding items and prepare for an audit. Confident in the numbers they reported to investors and bankers, vcfo helped the start-up successfully complete their first audit. Additionally, through vcfo’s mentorship, the COO has expressed an increased confidence in discussing financial matters with board members and is better equipped to manage the company on a financial and operational level.

Immediate Financial Assistance for Fast Growth Company

vcfo engaged with a mobile applications company that distributes rewards to users who interact with participating advertisers’ apps. At the time, the client was operating in a high growth-environment and deciding whether they should sell or go public on the Canadian Exchange.

They had an immediate need to streamline their reporting and clean up their finances in preparation of an audit covering the past three years. Upon meeting the client, we learned that due to the nature of their business model, they needed to find a process for converting a complex cash flow to accrual accounting to issue user rewards. At the time we engaged, there was no real reporting function, creating an urgency to establish solid books and processes should they decide to go public.

vcfo deployed a Senior and Assistant Controller to help their in-house CFO, who had worked with vcfo at a previous client. The vcfo team rebuilt the chart of accounts, recoded all transactions on an accrual basis and developed accounting policies for the user rewards system.  We helped prepare their records and provided assistance during the multi-year audit. We delivered ongoing monthly close support and day-to-day financial reporting functions. Additionally, we provided strategic support during a fast growth phase, including assistance with their increasingly complex reporting needs as they launched global operations.

Accounting and Finance Professional Search for a $200M privately held company

A $200M privately held company was looking to conduct a search for an industry-specific operational CFO. We were hired and leveraged our accounting and finance professional search experience to find the right talent. By using vcfo’s national staff to identify and assess candidates, we were able to identify the hired candidate within the time-to-target metric of 24 hours. The position was filled within 38 days.

Contract Recruiting/Sourcing Services for Fortune 100 company

We served as a preferred recruiting services partner to a Fortune 100 company to provide supplemental sourcing bandwidth. We used our recruiting and sourcing services to assist them with their search. We were able to quickly deploy and scale rapidly to meet their recruiting demand. We have sourced over 300 hires to date.

Recruiting/Technology Recruiting for a $100M publicly held company

We managed the recruiting process for a publicly-held company which was looking to increase its recruiting bandwidth and efficiency. We increased the volume of candidates that the company was receiving and helped reduce the time-to-fill for each position. Simultaneously, we managed the recruiting process with other contingent-based firms. This offering enabled the client to benefit from our reduced contingent fee service. The result: our recruiting team partnered with the client and helped place professionals at a more reasonable cost to the client.

Technology Recruiting for a $1B privately held company

Selected as a preferred recruiting partner for a $1B financial services company, we identified contract and direct hire technology professionals. We quickly become one of the top producing firms for this company, based on our team’s dedicated approach to identifying hard-to-find candidates. We continue to provide ongoing recruiting services for this company.

Recruitment Consulting for a global retail business with a small recruiting budget

A global retail business asked us to do recruitment consulting on a small recruiting budget. We conducted a recruiting diagnostic to quickly identify inefficiencies and waste. We benchmarked the results for this company against their sector and industry to determine the optimal RRI. Providing strategic counsel, training and resources, we were able to help redesign and course-correct recruitment efforts. As a result we improved their recruitment cost, time, quality of candidates and volume metrics with a savings of more than $350,000.

Financial Integration Assistance for Global Company

After acquiring a company in Brazil, our client needed senior-level assistance with the financial integration process. As they researched CFO solutions they connected with a virtual CFO at vcfo, who had an international background in Brazilian and US-GAAP as well as due diligence.

The client retained vcfo to work with their senior staff on the due diligence process, the creation and execution of a financial integration plan and assistance with multiple operational matters post-acquisition. vcfo helped with all the details, from mapping the Brazilian statutory reporting requirements into US-GAAP to facilitating technical communication between the Austin headquarters and the acquired company. By leveraging vcfo’s resources, the client was able to solve complex financial and operational integration issues in a timely and efficient manner. The company continues to work with vcfo for contract CFO consulting with acquisitions in both the US, South America and Europe on an ongoing basis.

Supporting a Start-up with Financial, Recruiting and HR Solutions

We worked with a start-up company that was a joint venture between two worldwide leaders in electric transmission development in Canada and Spain. During the start-up phase the board members and general counsel needed more than just contract CFO consulting and turned to vcfo to assist with their financial, human resources and recruiting requirements.

In addition to providing virtual CFO services, the vcfo divisions delivered end-to-end services not found with other financial consulting firms. They helped determine all the needs of starting a new entity in Texas, from scouting office space to selecting tax advisors and auditors to recruiting, hiring and on-boarding new employees. The virtual CFO was especially instrumental in the ability to operate in multiple languages and was an integral part of achieving the company’s first successful project.

Working with Development Stage and Rapid Growth Companies

vcfo works with many development stage and rapid growth companies which have limited finance resources and look to financial consulting firms for support. Often these companies obtain new capital from outside investors, attain a banking relationship, manage internal growth, acquire other operations and sometimes are acquired.

The process for each event requires comprehensive due diligence by the other party: often several years of GAAP-compliant financial statements, multiple year forward looking financial statements, account reconciliations, analysis and aging reports and more are required. vcfo leads the teams to expertly and efficiently assist the company in this process, enabling management to keep their primary focus on operating their business.

HR Consultants Support Growing Company

An established company specializing in consumer products was working through significant company growth. They had increased headcount and revenue to the point where they realized that they needed senior-level interim HR assistance with improving programs and processes.

They had staffed up quickly and were concerned about making sure they were paying people correctly and had the right people in the right positions. The company turned to the Senior Human Resource Consultants at vcfo for support. Our HR consultants came in and started working immediately with the executive team to align the workforce based on strategic company goals. Once they decided on a company-wide structure, we worked with them through compliance matters, talent acquisition initiatives, employee relations, policies and performance management. vcfo helped with all the details, from mapping the organization chart to job descriptions. By leveraging vcfo’s resources, the client was able to solve complex organizational goals and operational integration issues in a timely and efficient manner. The client continues to work with vcfo for their Senior Human Resources needs on an ongoing basis.

HR Solutions for Trucking Company

vcfo was retained by the acquirer of a large trucking company to handle due diligence and perform interim CFO, Controller and HR duties. Among other things, the company needed to examine their compliance with federal and state employment regulations and ensure overall best human resource practices were in place and properly utilized.

They turned to vcfo human resources consultants for guidance. vhr audited their HR operations to confirm that procedures were adequately supporting short-term and long-term company growth and financial objectives and led their executive and HR team’s planning to make and communicate changes impacting employees and the organization. vcfo created new job descriptions, verified pay classifications and salaries complied with federal standards and led them through the implementation with a professional payroll provider. Throughout the process, vhr mentored the client to further develop effective HR programs and overall best practices.

Making Human Resources a Key Differentiator for Business

vcfo helped a company with several HR consulting firm functions, starting with an assessment that provided actionable information to help the company address specific compliance and corporate filing needs. They also recommended that the company design and implement their own PEO, which saved the company over $125,000 in benefits alone.

vcfo worked with a Texas-based company specializing in renovation and catastrophe restoration services. For years the company managed most human resource needs without a specific HR expert, instead depending on payroll and accounting personnel. The company was not taking advantage of many cost-saving opportunities and also needed to provide a level of employee benefits and resources that would keep them competitive. The CEO and President decided to seek outside human resources consultants to support their quick growth and brought in vcfo.

vcfo HR consultants began their engagement with a comprehensive HR audit. This included research of the business, its processes and strategies, interviews with the executive leadership team, an inspection of the corporate office and a review of employee files and forms used by the company. The vhr team compiled this information into a report for the company on each aspect of the HR function, including key metrics for understanding the impact on those functions. Based on the audit findings, it was clear that there was an opportunity to change the way the company managed health and other key benefits. The vhr team gathered data to analyze whether the company would be better served by using a Professional Employer Organization instead of their current benefits and payroll solution. Based on their recommendation, the company set up their own PEO, allowing them to control costs, consolidate payroll, provide a more competitive set of employee benefits and meet other business objectives. The result was an immediate cost savings of $125,000 in benefits alone.

Over the course of the partnership, vcf has revamped the employee benefits program, performed a 401(k) review and update, implemented manager training and a performance management program, selected and implemented a HRIS and provided significant guidance on corporate restructuring.