🎁 Season of Gratitude Giveaway is Live!
Every new follower = $1 donated to Feeding America (up to $1,500) → Join In!
Outsourced Back-Office Accounting
Running a business is demanding – trying to also run an internal accounting department can be overwhelming and costly. Our outsourced back-office accounting services take that burden off your plate. Based in Livingston, NJ, we act as your full accounting department, handling day-to-day bookkeeping, transaction processing, and financial reporting. Beyond that, we offer fractional CFO services, providing high-level financial strategy and guidance on an as-needed basis. It’s like having a controller and CFO on your team, but only paying for the portion of time you need. We integrate seamlessly with your operations, using secure cloud accounting systems and regular check-ins. The result is you get accurate books and expert financial advice without the overhead of hiring full-time staff. Our firm’s owner, Gregory Monaco, CPA, MBA, has extensive experience as a CFO for small businesses – we bring that expertise to every client engagement, helping you make data-driven decisions for growth.
Your Complete Accounting Department
With our back-office accounting package, we cover all essential accounting functions:
We record all transactions (sales, expenses, bank deposits, etc.) in your accounting system (e.g., QuickBooks). We ensure every dollar is accounted for and properly categorized. We perform monthly closings, which means reconciling all accounts (bank, credit cards, loans) and reviewing the books for accuracy. Then we produce financial statements – Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow – giving you a clear view of your financial position each month.
We manage your bills and invoices as described on our AP/AR pages. That includes paying vendors on schedule and following up with customers for payment, ensuring smooth cash flow.
We process payroll, handle withholdings, and remit payroll taxes (if you don’t have a separate payroll provider, we can serve that role, or we can liaise with your payroll service to record entries properly in the books).
Expense Management:
We can implement systems for employee expense reports, corporate credit card tracking, and petty cash so that all expenditures are tracked and controlled.
For businesses selling goods, we can manage sales tax filings (e.g., NJ sales tax monthly/quarterly returns) and any other compliance reporting (such as 1099 filings for contractors at year end).
Essentially, we customize to your needs. You might need all of the above, or maybe just some functions we can scale our services accordingly. Our approach uses technology to maximize efficiency: for example, we use document management and automation tools to fetch bank statements, we utilize secure client portals (like our TaxDome portal) for you to upload documents, and we can set up dashboards for you to monitor key metrics in real time. By having one team handle everything, you avoid the silos and errors that often happen when pieces are divided among multiple people. Plus, as a CPA firm, we ensure internal controls are in place – segregating duties among our team where needed, and providing you oversight so you can trust that your finances are in good hands. All of this allows you to focus on operations while we keep the books in tip-top shape.
In addition to keeping the books, we step into the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role when you need higher-level analysis or planning. As your fractional CFO, we work closely with you (the owner/CEO) to interpret the numbers and plan ahead. Some of what we do in this capacity:
Budgeting & Forecasting:
We’ll help you create an annual budget and financial projections, and then track actual performance against those targets. This includes modeling revenue growth scenarios, forecasting expenses, and adjusting for seasonality. A budget becomes your financial roadmap for the year.
Cash Flow Management:
We project your cash flow needs, so you know in advance if a cash shortfall is coming and can take action (like securing a line of credit or adjusting payment timings). We also advise on cash reserves and investment of any surplus cash.
Financial Analysis & KPIs:
We identify and track Key Performance Indicators relevant to your business. For instance, gross margin percentage, client acquisition cost, current ratio, or debt-to-equity – whatever metrics align with your goals. We then review these with you regularly, explaining trends and their implications. We can perform profitability analysis by product or service line, client, or project, to see what’s most (or least) profitable.
Business Strategy & Planning:
Need to decide whether to hire more staff or invest in new equipment? We provide the financial analysis behind those decisions (e.g., break-even analysis, return on investment calculations). If you’re considering an expansion or launch of a new location/product, we model out the financial outcomes. We also bring in tax strategy – as CPAs, we naturally consider tax implications in any plan (for example, the benefit of purchasing equipment before year-end for a Section 179 deduction vs. cash flow impact).
Funding & Investor Relations:
If you plan to seek a bank loan or bring on investors, we prepare the necessary financial documents, projections, and even attend meetings with you as your financial representative. Banks and investors often prefer or even require CPA involvement for credibility. We help articulate your financial story clearly to stakeholders.
Regularly, we’ll meet with you (monthly or quarterly) to go over financial results and strategy – essentially acting as a part-time CFO in those meetings. Many clients find these sessions incredibly valuable: you get an experienced financial executive’s insights at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CFO (who might command a six-figure salary). Studies have shown that companies utilizing financial advisors or CFO services tend to grow faster and have higher profitability than those without, due to better decision-making supported by data. Our mission is to use our expertise to drive your business forward.
Benefits of a Fractional CFO
The advantages of our fractional CFO service include:
Expertise:
You’re tapping into high-level expertise (strategy, analysis, funding experience) that you might not otherwise have access to until your company is much larger. I (Greg Monaco) and our team have backgrounds in corporate finance and have advised numerous businesses, so we bring best practices to you.
Cost Savings:
A full-time CFO in NJ easily costs over $150k/year plus benefits. With a fractional arrangement, you get the critical pieces of that role for a small fraction of the cost. You essentially “share” a CFO with other clients. 71% of small firms found outsourcing high-level roles gave them needed flexibility – you get skills on-demand instead of carrying the expense year-round.
Objective Viewpoint:
We provide an objective, numbers-driven perspective. As a business owner, you’re close to the day-to-day; we can step back and analyze performance without bias, and ask the tough questions about profitability or cost control. This helps in fine-tuning your strategy.
Growth Enablement:
If your goal is to scale up, enter new markets, or even prepare for an eventual sale of the company, a fractional CFO is invaluable. We help get your financials in order, implement the right systems, and create a compelling financial narrative for potential investors or buyers. Essentially, we make sure the financial side of your house is built to support growth.
Crisis Navigation:
In challenging times (like economic downturns or unforeseen disruptions), having CFO level guidance is crucial. We can do scenario planning (“What if revenue drops 20%? Where can we cut costs?”) and help you navigate tough decisions. We proved our worth to many clients during the COVID-19 pandemic by helping them with cash flow survival plans, obtaining PPP/relief loans, and adjusting budgets in real-time.
Overall, you gain peace of mind knowing that an experienced financial professional is keeping watch on the health of your business and will alert you to opportunities or problems early.
Scalable Support Tailored to You
One of the key aspects of our back-office and CFO services is flexibility. We tailor our engagement to exactly what you need. If you’re a small business owner with no accounting staff, we can handle everything daily/ weekly. If you have a bookkeeper in-house but need higher-level oversight, we can work with them (perhaps just providing monthly review and CFO sessions). Our services are scalable – as your business grows or your needs change, we can ramp up or dial back. For example, you might start with basic bookkeeping and quarterly CFO check-ins; as you grow, you may want full monthly reporting and more frequent strategic input, which we can accommodate. We operate on either a fixed monthly fee (for a defined scope) or an hourly rate for more open-ended advisory, depending on what makes sense. Transparency is important to us – we’ll outline exactly what’s included so there are no surprises. We essentially become part of your team, just not on your payroll. And you’ll find us highly responsive: need some numbers for a meeting tomorrow? We’re on it. Have a sudden question about a potential purchase or f inancing? Just call or email and we’ll provide our CFO perspective.
Focus on Your Core Business
By trusting us with your back-office accounting, you free up valuable time and mental energy. Clients often tell us that before outsourcing, they spent countless evenings on bookkeeping or worrying about cash flow. With Monaco CPA in your corner, those tasks and worries are lifted. You can focus on sales, customer service, innovation – the things only you can do for your company – while we handle the finance side expertly. Also, consider the reduction in overhead and management: you’re not dealing with hiring, training, or supervising internal accounting staff (which can be especially challenging if you’re not an accountant yourself). We handle our own team’s training and stay up-to-date on accounting standards and software. You get the benefit of a full finance department’s output without having to manage one. And everything is kept confidential and secure; as CPAs, we adhere to strict ethical standards about client data protection and privacy.
Earning Your Trust through Expertise
Entrusting your entire financial back office is a big step – we get that. That’s why we emphasize experience and credentials. Gregory Monaco, CPA, leads every engagement and brings years of hands-on CFO experience for companies ranging from startups to multi-million dollar enterprises. Our team is comprised of qualified accountants who are thoroughly vetted. We are fully insured and stay current through continuing education (including knowledge of the latest IRS regulations, GAAP updates, and software advancements). We also leverage technology but sensibly – for example, we use top-rated accounting software and secure collaboration tools, but we also provide human insight and not just “reports out of software.” The success of our relationship is built on trust: we treat your business like our own when it comes to diligence and care. We take pride in seeing our clients succeed and knowing we played a part in it by providing strong financial management.
In summary, our Outsourced Back-Office Accounting and Fractional CFO service offers you a turnkey solution for financial management and strategic guidance. It’s like adding a world-class finance department to your business, one that scales with you and is invested in your success. Let us handle the numbers – you have a business to grow.