Practice & Business Support
Outsourced Finance Function
Between a part-time bookkeeper and a full in-house finance team lies an awkward gap that many growing businesses fall into. You need more than data entry and less than three salaries. We provide the whole function as a service, sized to where you actually are.
- UK businesses
The problem
The finance team you cannot yet justify
A capable financial controller, a management accountant and a purchase ledger clerk represent a substantial fixed commitment before employer National Insurance, pension, software, cover and recruitment costs. For a business between £1m and £20m of turnover, that structure is often unaffordable and yet the need is real.
- Employer National Insurance rose to 15% with the secondary threshold cut to £5,000, making every UK hire materially more expensive.
- Key-person risk is acute when one person holds the whole finance function.
- Growth exposes the gap fastest — exactly when attention is needed elsewhere.
At a glance
- Service line
- Practice & Business Support
- Delivered for
- UK businesses
- Typical cadence
- Continuous — Transaction processing runs daily or weekly to your business rhythm. Month end — Close completed and pack issued to a fixed working day each month.
- Engagement models
- Available per job, on ad-hoc hours, or through a dedicated resource. Compare models.
Scope
The full stack
Scope is agreed in writing before work starts and reviewed at each service review. Anything outside it is quoted separately rather than absorbed quietly and invoiced later.
Transactional
- Purchase ledger, supplier statement reconciliation and payment run preparation
- Sales ledger, invoicing, credit control and debtor chasing
- Bank and card reconciliation across all accounts and currencies
- Expense processing and employee claims
- Payroll processing and pension administration
Controls and reporting
- Month-end close to a published timetable
- Management accounts with commentary and KPI reporting
- Cash flow forecasting and working capital monitoring
- Budgeting, reforecasting and variance analysis
- VAT returns and statutory compliance calendar
Governance
- Documented finance process manual specific to your business
- Segregation of duties designed in from the start
- Audit-ready records and year-end pack for your accountant
- Board and lender reporting packs
Software
Platforms we work in for this service
We work inside your existing systems under named user accounts. If your stack is not listed, tell us — we will confirm honestly whether we can support it immediately or need a ramp-up period.
- Xero
- QuickBooks
- Sage
- NetSuite
- Dext
- ApprovalMax
- Fathom
- Power BI
Working directly with us
Where we deliver this service to a business directly, B4ES holds the engagement, the relationship and the responsibility for the work. Our delivery partner supports us behind the scenes and has no relationship with you. You deal with one party throughout.
Questions
Outsourced Finance Function — what firms ask
Do we still need our accountant?
Yes, and we work alongside them. We run the finance function; your accountant handles statutory accounts, tax advice and the independent professional relationship. We prepare the year-end pack so their job is faster and their fee reflects it.
What if we grow into wanting our own team?
Then we help you build it and hand over cleanly. The process manual, the controls and the documentation are yours throughout. A service you cannot exit is not a service, it is a trap — we do not design engagements that way.
Related
Services that usually move together
Most firms start with one service line. These are the ones that most often follow.
Fractional CFO
Senior financial thinking on a fractional basis — planning, modelling, funding preparation and board-level challenge.
Read moreManagement Accounts
Monthly or quarterly management packs delivered on a fixed timetable — the raw material for the advisory conversations that actually earn fees.
Read morePayroll
RTI-compliant payroll processing, auto-enrolment, CIS and year-end forms — run to a calendar that never slips.
Read moreNext step
Talk to us about outsourced finance function.
Bring a real example — a live job, a difficult client file, a cycle you are behind on. A concrete case tells you far more about a provider than a capability slide ever will.
What to expect
- No obligation and no minimum commitment to talk
- A written proposal within five working days
- A paid pilot before any long-term arrangement