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It is often a misconception that accountants and business advisors like to say NO . That they like to suck the excitement from the room and block enthusiastic business owners by telling them all the reasons why an idea won’t work. Well, I’m an accountant and a business advisor and I’m here to tell you that isn’t true. It certainly isn’t how I operate.

This was confirmed to me by a client yesterday as I attended my final wrap up meeting with the Management Team. I was engaged by this client as a virtual CFO and business advisor helping them navigate through times of rapid growth, times of uncertainty (particularly the past 2 years) and times of change. Over the past 6 years, I have helped this client grow from a very green startup to now a very significant and successful not for profit who will go on to change the world.

I have earned the reputation around the management table for delivering a few “ WHOAs”  ( Insert 2 hands up – palms facing out) when a new idea was being bounced around.  The WHOAs were never delivered as “ NOs” but rather as a message to slow down, think about the idea, think about the process and think about the future consequences. I would often refer back to a budget that we had previously set to see if the idea was in line with our strategy for the year and to see how the idea would fit within the affordability and cashflow of the company. It is true that some of the WHOAs did result in NOs, because when the ideas were analysed in light of the financial plan that had been set for the company, they just did not fit. My role was not to deliver the NO, but was to deliver the information to help the team make a better decision.

This is sometimes a difficult seat to sit in because everyone wants to run away with the excitement of a new idea. No one wants to be the handbrake, but not all ideas are good ones and sometimes the timing is just not right. Sometimes an idea needs more brainstorming or investigation.

In her closing speech to me yesterday, marking the end of my role as Virtual CFO, the CEO said something that I will never forget. She said that rather than being remembered for the “ WHOAs”, I would be remembered for the “ GOs”. This was illuminating to me and something that I had not expected. She said that my financial analysis, budgets, and our general financial discussions had allowed her to push the GO button on many projects which ultimately built the company. She said that without the security of being able to see into the future with our forecasts, she would not have had the confidence to move quickly with decisions that needed to be made.  She said that our budgets had allowed her to rest easy knowing that the new projects and ideas fit well within the company’s overall strategy and affordability.

That speech felt really good and showed me that as virtual CFO/ business advisor, I can play an important part of shaping businesses, giving life to new ideas and making change. So, my motto is still “ WHOA” but “ WHOA” with the ultimate aim of “ LETS GO” .