Continuing a series of business blogs written by Victor J. Temple, business manager at Friendship Garden Nursery School, Inc.

By Victor J. Temple

As the leader of your fiefdom, there is no job that you think you can’t do; furthermore no one could do these jobs as well as you.  How could they, you built this company, created the policies and procedures.  That is your blood, sweat and tears on the floor, there is no possible way that anyone could add value to your custom built business, or could they.

Often the first professional manager to be hired by a growing company will be the CFO or equivalent.  The founder realizes he/she needs help however the release of the company, product or process to the new professional manager is an arduous task.

A while ago I undertook the consolidation of 96 Excel worksheets into an accounting information system.  The 96 worksheets was bragging material for the proud founder.  His company didn’t need a double entry accounting system.  There was a spreadsheet for domestic A/R, another for international A/R, one for deposits owed, deposits paid and on and on and on.

The unfortunate result of the cash and balance sheet account reconciliation was a drop in retained earnings of $500K.  If you are a proud founder, doing everything yourself, ask yourself the hard question.  Do I know the best practice for each process in my business?  Honestly you don’t, start looking for professional managers that can help you succeed, before you have a $500K retained earnings hit.