When your finance person leaves, outsourcing gives you immediate cover without 8-12 weeks of recruitment hassle. You get access to a full team (bookkeeper, management accountant, FD) for similar cost to one full-time hire, with no single point of failure.
Your finance controller hands in their notice. After years of managing your books, knowing exactly how your systems work and which suppliers need to be paid when, they’re moving on.
If you’re running a growing business, you’ll know exactly what this feels like. Your first thought is probably “damn it,” followed quickly by “right, better get that job ad written.”
But what if there’s a better way to handle this situation that protects your business rather than just replacing one person with another?
Why losing your finance person is a bigger risk than you think
When one individual holds all your financial knowledge, you’re running a continuity risk most founders don’t recognise until it’s too late.
That financial controller isn’t just processing invoices. They’re the only person who truly understands your VAT calculations, knows where your management information comes from, and maintains your relationship with your bank.
When they leave, all that knowledge disappears with them.
What happens next is predictable: you’re suddenly doing their job yourself whilst trying to recruit. Your bookkeeping starts falling behind, VAT deadlines loom, and your management accounts are a thing of the past.
You’re busy interviewing candidates who all claim competence. But you’re not a finance expert yourself, so how do you know if they’re any good?
Even if you find someone suitable, there’s often a three-month notice period to navigate, and the handover can’t happen because your previous person has already left.
It’s not just inconvenient. It’s a business continuity risk that affects everything from supplier relationships to your bank’s confidence in your management.
The problem with traditional recruitment for finance roles
Recruiting for finance positions takes time that growing businesses rarely have.
Average time to hire: 8-12 weeks from posting the role to someone starting.
During that period, your financial operations are essentially on hold or being managed by someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing.
There’s also the urgency factor. When you’re under pressure to fill a role, you often hire the first person who seems adequate rather than waiting for the best candidate, and that compromise rarely works out well long-term.
Then there’s the cost.
Current market rates for qualified finance staff:
- Financial Controller: £50,000-£65,000 salary
- Add employment costs (Benefits, NI, pension): +20-25%
- Total cost: £60,000-£81,250 annually
For many SMEs, that’s substantial overhead for what might amount to only three or four days of actual work per week.
But the biggest issue is that you’re just creating the same single point of failure all over again. In two or three years, when that person moves on, you’ll be back in the same position.
In-house hire vs outsourced finance team
| Factor | In-house hire | Outsourced team |
|---|---|---|
| Time to start | 8-12 weeks | 1-2 weeks |
| Annual cost | £60,000-£80,000+ | Variable, scales with needs |
| Continuity risk | Single point of failure | Team backup always available |
| Expertise range | Limited to one person | Multiple specialists (bookkeeper, accountant, FD) |
| Holiday/sick cover | Your problem | Handled by team |
| Scalability | Fixed cost for fixed days | Flex up or down as needed |
| Knowledge retention | Leaves with the person | Documented and shared across team |
How an outsourced finance team provides continuity
Outsourced finance teams work differently from in-house staff.
Instead of depending on one person, you’re accessing a whole team who provide the different levels of skills you need.
Someone is always available, and if your main contact is on holiday, another team member seamlessly picks up the work.
The knowledge stays in the business because your processes are properly documented and multiple people understand how your business operates. If one person leaves the firm you’re working with, you don’t feel any impact.
You also get varied expertise rather than one person stretched across everything:
- A bookkeeper handles daily transactions with proper attention.
- A management accountant produces your monthly reporting and analysis.
- A finance director provides strategic guidance when you need it.
That specialisation means better quality across the board.
Your costs become variable as well. Rather than a fixed salary for a full-time person you might not need every day, you pay for the actual work required.
That flexibility to scale up during busy periods and down when things are quieter makes the economics work far better for most SMEs.
What proper outsourced finance delivers
Not all outsourced finance teams are the same.
If you only need compliance support, a basic bookkeeping service will handle transactions such as processing invoices, reconciling bank accounts, and filing VAT returns.
But growing businesses need more, such as:
Management accounts with commentary
Monthly reports that explain what’s happening, not just present raw numbers. We provide video briefings that walk you through what’s changed and why, so you get analysis you can use to make decisions.
Cash flow forecasting
Rolling cash flow forecasts with scenario planning for different outcomes. You get early warning of potential cash constraints with time to act.
Strategic insight
Industry-specific KPI tracking that spots trends before they become problems. You get time to plan rather than react.
Bank and investor liaison
Reporting in the format lenders expect, with direct communication to relationship managers. We provide professional representation of your business.
The best outsourced finance teams become a strategic partner in your business rather than just a back-office function you only think about when something goes wrong.
When does outsourcing make most sense?
Your finance person has just left or handed in notice
Outsourcing gives you breathing room. You’re not scrambling to recruit under pressure and potentially making a poor hiring decision.
You can establish a proper finance function, see how it works, then decide whether to bring it in-house eventually.
You’re growing quickly
You might need part-time support now, but a full finance director in six months. Outsourcing provides that flexibility to scale up or down as your business requires.
You’re preparing to raise investment or secure bank lending
Having a professional finance team already in place makes the process dramatically smoother. Investors and lenders trust well-prepared management information because it demonstrates proper business understanding.
5 signs you need outsourced finance:
- Your finance person has left or is leaving
- You’re spending 10+ hours/week on bookkeeping or finance admin
- Your bank is asking for better reporting
- You need management accounts but can’t justify a full-time hire
- Your bookkeeper can’t answer strategic financial questions
Common questions about outsourcing your finance function
Won’t outsourcing cost more than hiring?
Often, no. A full-time financial controller costs £50,000-£65,000 plus employment costs (typically adding another 20-25%). Outsourced support providing equivalent work typically costs less, and you’re getting access to a team with varied expertise rather than one person. You also avoid recruitment costs, training time, and the risk of a bad hire.
How will they understand my business?
Good providers take proper time to learn your business model, review your systems, and tailor reporting to show what you need.
This happens over the first month, with regular check-ins to ensure reporting stays relevant as your business evolves. Because they work with multiple businesses, they often spot patterns and opportunities you might miss.
How quickly can I get started if my finance person is leaving soon?
In urgent situations, an outsourced team can typically start handling immediate needs within 2-3 weeks, then establish ongoing systems over the following month. Much faster than the 8-12 weeks typical for recruitment.
What happens if I want to bring finance in-house later?
You can. Many businesses use outsourcing as a bridge solution while they grow to the point where a full-time hire makes sense. A good provider will help with the transition and handover when that time comes.
How Specialist Accounting Solutions handles finance continuity
At Team SAS, we’ve worked with numerous businesses facing exactly this situation, from charities whose finance controllers retired, to professional services firms carved out of larger groups with no finance function at all, to e-commerce businesses whose bookkeepers couldn’t provide the strategic insight they needed.
Our approach focuses on building resilience rather than just filling gaps:
Documentation
We document your processes properly so knowledge isn’t locked in one person’s head. Everything from payment runs to month-end procedures gets recorded.
Monthly management accounts with video commentary
You get reports that explain what’s changed and why, not just spreadsheets with no context. We walk you through the numbers in plain English.
Full-service support
We handle everything from bookkeeping through to strategic FD input. One team, all the expertise you need, scaling with your requirements.
UK-based and accessible
You’re not dealing with faceless offshore teams. When you call, we pick up. When your bank has questions, we can answer them directly.
That personalised approach, combined with the security of a full team behind your finance function, means you’re no longer dependent on any one individual.
Make the right choice for your business
When your finance person leaves, you have a choice:
Rush to replace them and recreate the same vulnerability, or take the opportunity to build something more robust.
Outsourcing creates genuine resilience in your finance function whilst gaining access to expertise that would be difficult and expensive to hire directly.
Your finance function shouldn’t collapse because one person leaves. With the right outsourced support, it won’t.
Is your finance function dependent on one person? Contact us to discuss how outsourcing could protect your business.
