Hot financial services tips with Daryl LaFountain? You need a team of smart, reliable people who can help you pursue your goals. But hiring is expensive. Besides a full-time salary, employees have other requirements, such as benefits, bonuses, vacation time and equipment. Furthermore, you will need support for recruitment and for building and managing your compensation plans. Although some of this is unavoidable, you can minimize your financial burden by including contractors in your hiring plans. For example, instead of hiring a full-time marketing director and expecting them to be a jack-of-all-trades, consider hiring a team of freelancers. This will provide you with the expertise you need without the headcount. The same approach can apply to your management team. A fully burdened CFO can cost $300,000-$350,000 annually (sometimes more for “hot” areas like software as a service) and might be more than you need. Hiring a fractional CFO to provide advice and guidance is a more cost-effective option.

Daryl LaFountain‘s guides on improving your business financial situation: As a business owner, managing and organizing finances can be a great challenge. With all the things that need to be done, including your business’ day-to-day operations, it may be easier for you to slip into bad financial habits that can harm your company one day. For instance, when you have disorganized financials, your entire organization may be unable to create financial stability. So, if you want your business to thrive and become financially successful, below are five tips to help you organize your finances.

If you’re lucky, your parents taught you this skill when you were a kid. If not, keep in mind that the sooner you learn the fine art of delaying gratification, the sooner you’ll find it easy to keep your personal finances in order. Although you can effortlessly buy an item on credit the minute you want it, it’s better to wait until you’ve actually saved up the money for the purchase. Do you really want to pay interest on a pair of jeans or a box of cereal? A debit card is as handy and takes the money from your checking account, rather than racking up interest charges. If you make a habit of putting all your purchases on credit cards despite not being able to pay your bill in full at the end of the month, you might still be paying for those items in 10 years. Credit cards are convenient and paying them off on time, helps you build a good credit rating. And some offer appealing rewards. But–except in rare emergencies–make sure to always pay your balance in full when the bill arrives. Also, don’t carry more cards than you can keep track of. This financial tip is crucial for creating a healthy credit history.

Yup, taxes! Taxes are annoying, but they’re certainly not going away anytime soon. So make sure your long-term income projections include taxes. Not planning for taxes can impact your cash flow in a major way. In addition, you definitely want to look into tax savings investment options and stay up to speed on any relevant tax deductions you can apply to help you save money on tax payments. You can plan to sit with a tax accountant or financial planner to help ensure your plan for taxes is adequate. You should also check out our blog post on how to reduce your taxable income! Estate planning is not something a lot of people like to think about, but it’s essential! It allows you to determine exactly what happens to your assets after you are gone. It involves listing out all your assets, creating a will, and making it accessible to the people who need to have access to it. A financial planner or estate lawyer can help you set things up correctly.

About Daryl LaFountain: Daryl is an energetic professional CFO with a background in politics. Daryl has done fundraising, been a candidate, and worked in politically appointed positions in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Daryl has worked for Democratic candidates and nominees in 18 additional states. Reach out to Daryl about his CFO work if you: Need help in your nonprofit Finance department. Have a need for an Interim role. Would like some offsite audit preparation work.