Your Finance Function Blueprint for Business Growth
How Your Finance Function Evolves as You Grow
Every growing business reaches milestones where its finance needs change. What starts as a few spreadsheets at the kitchen table can quickly become something far more complex and far more critical to get right.
Here’s how the finance function typically evolves as your company scales.
Note: The revenue ranges below are only a guide. If you are in a complex or heavily regulated sector such as financial services, manufacturing or construction, you may need a more advanced finance function earlier. In contrast, a tech-led business like SaaS may be able to operate with a leaner structure for longer, thanks to automation and streamlined systems.
Start Up Stage: Kitchen Table Finance
In the early days, it’s usually just you. You might have an external accountant to help with year end accounts and tax, and perhaps a freelance bookkeeper to manage the day to day. Tools like Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent handle most of the admin, and cash flow is the top priority.
At this stage, finance is about keeping things compliant and staying afloat.
Growing Business: Hiring Your First In House Finance Support
As revenue builds and transactions increase, finance starts to take up more of your time. This is often when founders bring someone in-house, typically a Finance Assistant or a Bookkeeper.
You may still rely on your accountant for year end and strategic advice, but now you have someone managing invoicing and basic reporting.
At this stage, you might also hire an Assistant Accountant to support with month end tasks, bank reconciliations and VAT returns. A Purchase Ledger Clerk may also be needed to manage supplier invoices and payments. If you are issuing more invoices and chasing payments, a Sales Ledger Clerk and Credit Controller can help maintain healthy cash flow.
This is when internal processes and controls start to become more important.
Scaling Up: Bringing in a Finance Manager, Head of Finance or Financial Controller
When you reach around £2 million to £5 million in turnover, things start to get more complex. Cash flow forecasting becomes essential. You may be raising investment or expanding, and you need better financial insight.
At this stage, most businesses bring in someone to take ownership of the finance function. This role may be called a Finance Manager, Head of Finance, or Financial Controller, depending on your preference and company culture.
These roles often overlap in responsibilities, including:
- Producing management accounts
- Managing cash flow
- Overseeing reporting and compliance
- Leading the day-to-day finance team
It is also a good time to consider bringing in a Fractional Finance Director or CFO. They provide strategic leadership on a part time basis, helping you make confident decisions without the cost of a full-time hire.
In fact it often makes sense to bring–in a Fractional Finance Director before hiring your first qualified accountant in house. They can often put in the processes and reporting that are required and then train up a more junior member of staff before you have to invest in a full-time qualified accountant.
Leadership and Strategy: Hiring a Finance Director or CFO
Around the £5 million to £10 million mark, your finance needs evolve again. You are likely making bigger decisions such as acquisitions, funding rounds or expansion into new markets. You need a finance leader who can shape strategy as well as manage the numbers.
This is when an in-house Finance Director or CFO becomes essential (this could still be on a part time basis, but once your requirements get to 3 days a week, it is more cost effective to bring this role in-house rather than on a fractional/ day rate basis). They bring commercial insight, long term planning and team leadership, while ensuring financial operations run smoothly.
As your team grows under them, you may expand the function with roles such as:
- Finance Business Partner – works closely with commercial teams to support decision making
- Management Accountant – delivers monthly accounts and provides performance insight
- Financial Analyst – builds models and forecasts to support growth planning
At this point, finance becomes a core function rather than a support role. Your finance team should be structured, forward looking and well aligned with your commercial goals.
Group Structure or Multi Division Business: A CFO and Divisional FDs
When your business becomes a group or operates across multiple divisions, the complexity increases again. One finance leader cannot cover everything.
At this stage, you will typically have a Group CFO supported by Divisional Finance Directors. The CFO focuses on strategy, funding and investor relations. The Divisional FDs are embedded in individual business units, driving performance and aligning local plans with group goals.
You may also build out an FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis) team, led by an FP&A Manager, to oversee budgeting, forecasting and group-wide financial planning.
This structure gives you oversight, clarity and agility at scale.
Additional Stages
Systemising the Function: Investing in Technology and Systems Accountants
As the finance function matures, your original software may start to hold you back. Manual workarounds and inconsistent data can become a bottleneck.
This is when many businesses invest in more robust finance systems, such as:
A Systems Accountant plays a key role at this stage. They help implement and optimise your finance systems, ensuring clean data, better reporting and streamlined processes.
The right tools and the right people unlock efficiency and visibility across the business.
Specialist Expertise: Tax and VAT
In the early stages, most businesses rely on an external accountant or tax advisor for compliance, tax returns and planning. This arrangement often works well for many years.
As your business becomes more complex, such as when expanding internationally or operating as a group, you may need more specialist advice. This is when it can make sense to consult with a corporate tax specialist to ensure you are managing risk and making informed decisions. Bringing this role in house is rarely necessary unless your business is operating at significant scale, for example with turnover above £100 million or in a listed environment.
VAT is another area that often becomes more challenging as you grow. While it may seem straightforward initially, complexity increases with volume, international activity or unusual transaction types. Common issues include:
Claiming VAT on non-qualifying expenses
Incorrect treatment of international sales or imports
Applying the domestic reverse charge in construction or other sectors
Failing to adjust for partial exemption
A specialist VAT review can give peace of mind that your setup is correct and your reporting is compliant. Many growing businesses benefit from an external VAT advisor, even on a one-off basis, to check that everything is in order and avoid potential penalties.
Tax planning is also important from a business owner’s perspective. How you draw income, plan for investment or prepare for exit all have tax implications. A well-structured finance function should work closely with external advisors to ensure these decisions support your long term goals.
Understanding Finance Job Titles
One of the most confusing things about building a finance team is that job titles are not always consistent.
A Financial Controller, Head of Finance, Finance Director and even CFO can all refer to the same role, the number one in finance. The title often depends on the size and stage of the business, rather than the responsibilities themselves.
For example:
A startup may hire a CFO who is effectively doing a Financial Controller role
A growing business may advertise for a Finance Manager when they really need an FD
A larger business may have a CFO and an FD with clearly distinct responsibilities
This can cause confusion for candidates and founders alike. Getting the title right helps you attract the right talent with the right expectations.
At Artemis Clarke, we always start by understanding the scope, budget and priorities of the role. From there, we help define the title that fits best for your business and the market.
Often, it is more effective to bring in someone with senior experience on a part time or fractional basis rather than hiring a more junior person full time. This way, you get the expertise you need without exceeding your budget and you avoid outgrowing the role too quickly.
Get the Right Finance
Structure for Your Stage
Wherever you are on your journey, having the right finance structure and the right people makes all the difference.
At Artemis Clarke, we help businesses at every stage build finance teams that are not just fit for purpose but ready for the future.
Whether you need a part time Finance Director, a hands-on Financial Controller or help planning your next hire, we are here to guide you.
Contact Details
London: 020 8191 2124
Bristol: 0117 244 1891
Email: enquiries@artemisclarke.co.uk