Reach out for valuable resource

Professional services firm Hutcheon Mearns launched its outsourced finance service three years ago to work primarily with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in their growth phase. It offers a dedicated and personal team to ensure its clients are financially compliant, and that they receive timely, accurate management information to help facilitate informed business decision making.

The service team consists of Scott Garden, head of outsourced finance at Hutcheon Mearns, along with eight colleagues – five accountants and three assistant accountants. The firm is continuing to grow the team and is currently looking to recruit in Edinburgh.

Scott says: “I’ve been with Hutcheon Mearns now for almost eight years. For the first five, I worked as part of the interim specialist team. This involved going out to clients, undertaking interim financial controller or financial director roles to cover periods of absence.

“Three years ago, we decided to set up the outsourced finance team. It was to help clients, mainly small or medium sized businesses, who were looking for finance support at both a transactional and more senior level.”

He explains there are three key service lines for the outsourced finance team. Firstly, retained work involves clients paying a fixed monthly fee for all their finance support needs, with Hutcheon Mearns effectively becoming an all-in-one finance resource solution. According to Scott, this could involve undertaking all of a client’s transactional work, invoicing activities, VAT returns, payroll, management accounting, statutory accounting and corporation tax work.

In addition, the team puts an emphasis on cashflow forecasting and budgeting. “We are flexible in terms of how we work with clients,” adds Scott. “If, for example, a client has an internal employee who completes some of the transactional work, we can tailor the service we provide to their specific needs. If it’s an SME that has recently become commercial or is growing quickly they might not have finance processes in place, so we can help get these set up.”

Secondly, Hutcheon Mearns can place its outsourced finance team in interim in-house roles at a client’s premises. This can be on either a part-time or full-time basis, to support in such areas as payroll, accounts payable and receivable, and management accounting.

The third element of its outsourced finance service is centred around project work. This is varied in nature, but the team has significant experience in finance system migrations to Xero, an accounting software for SMEs, as well as audit preparation work.

There are many benefit for clients who use the outsourced finance service from Hutcheon Mearns, as Scott points out: “SMEs can’t necessarily afford a full finance team as they would need someone able to complete transactional work, management accounting activities, and compliance related workstreams. We can provide that breadth of expertise on a part-time basis for a manageable fee. We provide all our clients with small, dedicated teams and a consistent point of contact. I think this is one of the key distinguishing factors about our service offering.”

Turning to challenges that Hutcheon Mearns can help SME clients address, Scott explains that cashflow is a major factor – particularly for businesses looking to grow, but having to do so in a “disciplined manner”.

“We talk to business owners and managers about the need to be careful with their cash as they grow. It’s getting them into the mindset that even though they may be profitable, they still need cash in the bank. So, I would say cashflow is the key challenge, especially as it can’t be assumed customers will pay their bills on time. You must be prudent when it comes to cash forecasting, and consider the worst-case scenario,” he comments. “It’s also important to make sure compliance is up-to-date and that clients are aware of their responsibilities, to ensure we can meet all relevant filing deadlines on their behalf.”

Hutcheon Mearns established its outsourced finance service in Aberdeen before recently employing a senior accountant in Dundee. As demand grows across the Central Belt, it is actively recruiting in Edinburgh.

Scott says: “We want to have a team on the ground in Edinburgh. While some of what we do can be delivered remotely, one of the things that I think sets us apart in the market is that we like to spend time with our clients and get to know their businesses.”

Now, as part of Cooper Parry, the Hutcheon Mearns outsourced finance service team is able to tap into a wider network of specialists across Scotland and the UK – all focused on helping their clients thrive.

Find out more at www.hutcheonmearns.co.uk