Virtual finance reporting

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Growing businesses reach a point where the in-house finance function needs to be more than it currently is, whether that is a controller stretched beyond their capacity, a leadership team without the senior financial oversight it needs or both at once.

Hiring for all of that at the right level, all at once, is expensive and slow and a single hire cannot give you the breadth of technical knowledge the function actually requires.

Our virtual finance services put senior finance leadership and a properly run finance function in place without the cost or delay of building it in-house, backed by the full breadth of the firm behind every engagement.

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How we support businesses

We work alongside you as a strategic guide, providing the finance leadership and the finance function capability a growing business needs, without asking you to commit to a full in-house team before the role or the requirement is properly defined.

A Virtual FD and an outsourced finance function are often the same conversation, seen from two ends.

One puts senior judgement in the room where decisions are made; the other makes sure the numbers behind those decisions are accurate, timely and properly reported.

Where a business needs both, the Virtual FD sits above the outsourced function, giving direction to the same team that is running the day-to-day processing.

With the breadth of a full-service firm sitting behind either engagement, you gain access to tax, payroll, corporate finance and audit specialists whenever the situation calls for it, not just the resource processing the numbers each month.

The services we offer

Two services sit within this part of our practice:

Virtual fd

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Smart outsourcing

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What you can expect
from our team at Macalvins

Across every engagement, three things define the experience of working with us:

Genuine seniority where it is needed

Whether that is a Virtual FD attending board meetings and investor conversations or a senior manager reviewing every output before it reaches you, the level of oversight is calibrated to the decisions the business is making, not the size of the invoice.

One named team, reviewed regularly

You work with the same people month after month and the scope of the engagement is revisited as the business grows, so senior finance time is deployed where it changes outcomes.

Backed by a full-service firm

Tax structuring, transaction support, audit preparation and the wider advisory practice sit behind every engagement. The breadth of capability you draw on is the breadth of the firm, not the bandwidth of an individual.

Businesses choose to run their finance function or their finance leadership through us because they want genuine seniority and capability present in the decisions that matter, without making the irreversible commitment of a full in-house team before the role has been properly defined.

We are the pair of steady hands that keeps payroll off the leadership agenda.

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Here is what our clients have to say…

Macalvins have been running the Payroll and Pension Plan for Hayes & Yeading United Football Club for over 10 years.… Read more

Bernard Bitmead

I love the people of macalvins. they are warm and very dependable. and that what matters to me in any… Read more

SUJOY GHOSH

I have been MaCalvins for the past 6 years and I have found them excellent in every department. They manage… Read more

John Gill

I’ve been with MaCalvins since 2013, they are managing my company business accounts and my personal tax returns in a… Read more

Taghreed Altuhafi

Excellent service and understanding of our business needs

Kanesh Rajani

Thank you Macalvins for excellent service over the years

S Hodzic

Why choose Macalvins?

With our team, you get precision, continuity and the kind of considered advice that comes from people who know your numbers as well as you do.

As a Top 100 UK accountancy firm with international reach through PrimeGlobal, Macalvins brings that depth of expertise to every client, at every stage of growth.

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Insights

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need a Virtual FD, an outsourced finance function or both?

It depends on where the gap sits. If the business has reasonable in-house processing but lacks senior financial leadership at board level, a Virtual FD alone may be the right answer. If the processing itself, the bookkeeping, payroll and reporting, needs support, smart outsourcing is the fit. Many growing businesses need both and the two services are designed to work together when that is the case.

How is the right level of support matched to our business?

Through a structured scoping conversation. We discuss the business, the stage it is at, the immediate priorities and the gaps you are trying to close. The proposed scope, whether that is a Virtual FD, an outsourced function or a combination, is confirmed in conversation before the engagement begins.

How does this work alongside our existing finance team?

In whatever division of responsibility serves the business best. Where you have a controller or finance manager in place, a Virtual FD typically provides the strategic layer above them or our outsourcing team takes specific workstreams while your team retains others. The boundary is set deliberately at the outset so both sides know what they own.

When does the engagement transition to a permanent in-house hire?

When the business has grown to the point where that is the right answer and not before. Part of our role is to help you make that assessment objectively, define the permanent role properly and support the transition once it is made. A clean handover at the right moment is a feature of the engagement, not the end of the relationship.

What technology do you work with?

We work across the major cloud accounting platforms including Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage and with NetSuite and other mid-market platforms for larger or more complex businesses. Where your existing setup is not serving the business well, we can recommend and implement an alternative.

Virtual Finance Reporting