“When John [from FocusCFO] came on board, we were at $11 million, and now we’re at $20 million. He’s been an integral component of our business.”
– Brian Helwig, CEO, MSP360
Prioritizing Growth: Why This CEO Outsourced Financial Expertise
Brian Helwig took the helm of MSP360 back in 2019. His goal at the time was to transform the company from a lifestyle business to a market leader – a brand that IT professionals and managed service providers would rely on to protect their IT infrastructure.
Helwig came to the role with a wealth of financial knowledge and expertise. In fact, prior to taking the role at MSP360, he had considered joining FocusCFO as a fractional CFO serving the Pittsburgh area. But if he was going to serve MSP360 as CEO, he knew he couldn’t take on sole responsibility for the financial aspects of the business. Instead, he tried hiring a few outside resources, but he struggled to find good talent with the necessary experience to do what needed to be done at MSP360.
FocusCFO: Enabling the Business Owner to Focus on Driving Growth
Then he remembered FocusCFO. He has been impressed in the past, so he reached out in hopes of finding the right resource to push the business forward.
He connected first with Tom Bartos, an area president for FocusCFO in the greater Pittsburgh area. Bartos, in turn, connected Helwig with John Busshaus, a fractional CFO with more than 30 years of diverse business, finance, administration, and accounting experience and expertise.
“John made such a good fit because I'm able to focus on the other parts of the business that need to be driven – the sales, the hiring, the CEO stuff,” Helwig said. “He’s very, very good.”
Busshaus was initially engaged to develop monthly cash forecasts and board presentations for MSP360. That quickly expanded to include the development of multinational monthly consolidation with accurate currency translation – all without an ERP – and the ability to provide balance sheet and cashflow statements, which were not previously available. Busshaus also worked closely with Helwig to ensure accurate data for the development of key performance indicators, and to ensure Helwig was updated on the state of those KPIs every month.
“When you have a strong operating CFO, he knows what’s going on, and he’s giving you the dashboard that you need to pay attention to. You look at the revenue and services and marketing, and you start to push and make them go faster. And you see the results,” Helwig said.
As an example, Helwig said he used to have five sets of accounting books and struggled to determine how he would match all of them together while taking different currencies into account.
“John standardized that process so we could see what was happening to get really strong metrics to know where we were not doing so well as a business,” Helwig said. “He calls out what needs to be handled better, and if he doesn’t know the answer, he will either find it or connect me with someone who does.”
The Proof is in the Numbers - A Fractional CFO's Impact on Revenue
This level of strategic financial support has been critical as Helwig has worked to achieve his goal of elevating the business from a lifestyle entity to a market leader. And the proof is in the numbers.
“When John came on board, we were at $11 million, and now we’re at $20 million,” Helwig said. “No matter what happens in this business, whenever I need a CFO, I'll call John.”
