VFD Articles

On the 16th July 2019, these were the words contained in an email sent to the Virtual Finance Director from Xero, confirming the Virtual Finance Director has now been listed in the Xero App Marketplace.

The Virtual Finance Director claims to be ‘The Only Complete Turnkey Solutions for Improved Financial Performance’ this is quite a claim, so what makes the Virtual Finance Director different to other ‘Reporting Apps’ and does it really stack up in practice?

To really understand what the Virtual Finance Director (VFD) is and how it compares with other apps, you need to understand it in the context of its wider ‘Ecosystem’.

The VFD was conceived by CIMA Accredited Finance Directors as a tool to help accountants identify clients with significant scope to improve sales and profitability and to help those clients ‘improve business performance’ and so go from simple ‘Keeping Score’ to ‘Helping Business Owners Be More Successful.

Example: Reducing Client Attrition, Increasing Cross Selling and Improving Client Referral Rates:

  • Problem: Average Client Attrition in the UK is 15% to 20%.
  • Cause: Low levels of Client Engagement.
  • Symptoms: Higher than average Client Attrition.
  • Solution: Identify and address the causes of client dissatisfaction and improve Client Engagement.
  • Result: Reduced client attrition, increase sales to existing clients and increased referral rates.

The Virtual Finance Director is part of an ecosystem of quality, vetted, B2B Service Providers. For example Enquir3, Client Engagement experts who specialise in helping businesses improve their levels of Client Engagement.

Identifying clients in need of help and delivering a tangible bottom-line improvement becomes relatively easy, and as every accountant knows, the compound impact on profit and increased equity value are profound.

To deliver this the Virtual Finance Director provides three key tools:

  • Enhanced Management / Financial Performance Reports to pinpoint financial issues or trends.
  • A suite of Business Planning and Forecasting tools to help clients understand and plan for the future.
  • A suite of specific Opportunity Exception Reports to highlight ‘Quick-Wins’.
  • An incredibly detailed interactive Business Intelligence Dashboard.

Perhaps more important, we know that as an Accountant in Practice time is money and you cannot afford to waste it. It takes less than 10 seconds to add each client to the Virtual Finance Director and EVERYTHING is automated, so all you and your staff need to do, is advice clients, take the credit and charge accordingly.

Every business owner needs good financial advice, you will be surprising how many will be happy to pay you substantially more for Enhanced Management Reporting and / or Financial Advice that leads to improved sales, profits and equity value.

To find out more about the Virtual Finance Director and how it can help you and your practice deliver more value for less cost, register for a free trial today or ask for a call back by using our Chat Service or contact form and one of our team will be in touch.