How Cutting Costs Gets You More (Part 2)
Updated: Oct 7
We’ve done this for more than 1,000 organisations. Cut costs and end up with something better, not worse.
Most businesses think they have to choose: cut costs or keep capability. After 20 years and more than 1,000 SMEs, I can tell you it's a false choice.
In Part 1 (The Empathy Trap), I shared an email from a CFO who was hesitating about whether to bring us in, because it would mean making their well-liked Finance Officer's role redundant.
Before we get to that (Part 3), let's look at what's on the other side of the decision. Because if you're going to make a hard call, you need to know it's the right one.
Here's what we do.
1/ We tell you what your finance function should cost.
Not a guess. A benchmark.
We've done this for more than 1,000 organisations. That means we can compare your finance function against businesses just like yours: similar size, similar complexity, similar volumes.
Most owners have never had that number. When they see it, the conversation changes. It stops being "can we afford to change?" and becomes "can we afford not to?"
2/ We bring an objective eye.
Our Optimum Process is the hallmark of what we do. We come in, map how things actually work (not how the procedures manual says they work), and strip out what doesn't need to be there.
The double handling. The workarounds. The report nobody reads.
Not because anyone did anything wrong. Because nobody had the time, or the distance, to look.
3/ We do it onshore.
This matters more than people realise.
Australian SME finance is not simple. It often includes nuance that's difficult to nail. Reporting that needs context. Payroll with modern Awards and an EBA thrown in for good measure. That's not something you want handled by a team that's never heard of an enterprise agreement, working while you're asleep.
Onshore means local knowledge, your time zone, and people who understand how Australian businesses actually run.
4/ We remove the single-person dependency.
Instead of one person holding everything in their head, you get documented processes and a team behind them. Leave is covered. Work is reviewed. Nothing stops because one person is away.
That's not just efficient. It's a genuine reduction in business risk, and in fraud and error risk too.
And the numbers?
For businesses in the 1m–20m range, we're typically reducing the cost of the finance function by 25–30%. From day one. Not after a two-year transformation program. Lower cost. Better process. Less risk. That's the 'something better' I talked about in Part 1.
On paper, it's an easy decision. And the client from Part 1 has decided to go ahead. But anyone who's run a business knows signing off on the numbers is the easy bit. The hard part is the person sitting at the desk.
In Part 3, I'll share how they're approaching that, and the three options every business in this position faces. In the meantime: Do you know what your finance function costs as a percentage of revenue? And do you know what it should cost?
Don't miss Part 3. It's the one that matters most.
