How a Hiring Setback Helped Us Build a Finance Dream Team

Scaling a business fast is a wild ride. One month you’re celebrating growth, the next you’re staring at a spreadsheet thinking: Wait… do we actually know what’s happening with cash?

At The Makeover Group (TMG), we’re in the business of transformation. And recently, we got a strong reminder that growth forces you to upgrade your internal systems, especially finance.

If you’re a founder who’s outgrowing your current setup, this behind-the-scenes story will feel familiar. It’s also the exact reason CFO services for small businesses exist: to give owners control, clarity, and speed when the business starts moving faster than the back office.

Below, we’ll walk you through what happened at TMG, the hiring mistake that stung, and the finance function we built the second time, TMG Books, stronger, faster, and built for scale.

Why Growing Businesses Eventually Need Stronger Financial Control

Early-stage businesses can often “get away with” a lightweight finance setup.

You have fewer transactions, fewer team members, fewer moving parts. A monthly check-in with an accountant feels fine. You’re mostly focused on sales, delivery, and building momentum.

But once growth kicks in, the rules change.

More growth usually means:

• More payroll and more complexity in cash commitments

• More suppliers, tools, subscriptions, and operating costs

• More customers (and more variability in payment timing)

• More decisions that need to be made quickly

At that stage, finance stops being a compliance function and becomes a control function.

You need finance systems for scaling businesses that don’t just record what happened, they help you decide what to do next.

When Outsourced Accounting Stops Being Enough

For a while, we managed our finances through an external accountant. And to be clear: outsourced accounting can work well, until your ambitions outpace the model.

The issue isn’t that outsourcing is “bad.” The issue is what most founders actually need during scale:

• Real-time visibility

• Faster decision-making

• Hands-on ownership of numbers

• A finance partner who understands the business model, not just the ledger

This is the heart of outsourced vs in-house accounting.

Outsourced setups often optimize for compliance and periodic reporting. In-house finance (done right) optimizes for control, speed, and decision support.

As TMG grew, we felt it: our process wasn’t built for scale. Growth was being slowed down by a finance function that couldn’t move at the same pace.

The Hiring Mistake That Forced Us to Rethink Finance

So we made the call to bring finance in-house, that’s when TMG Books was launched.

We started with a LinkedIn ad for a Group Financial Controller. The response was intense, in a good way. We had so many strong applicants we actually paused the ad to catch up.

We did what most teams consider “best practice”:

• Shortlisted carefully

• Interviewed thoroughly

• Involved second opinions

• Checked references

We hired someone who looked perfect on paper.

A few weeks in, reality hit.

The execution wasn’t there. The proactivity, ownership, and pace we needed were missing. It wasn’t a character issue, it was a fit issue.

And yes: it stings.

Even if you’ve hired many times, getting it wrong feels personal because the cost is real:

• Lost momentum

• Team distraction

• Slower decision-making

• More stress for the founder

But the bigger lesson was this: finance hires aren’t just about “can they do accounting?” They’re about whether they can build control.

How We Built a Stronger Finance Team the Second Time

Instead of dwelling, we looked at what we already had: a warm pipeline of excellent candidates.

Two stood out as strong fits.

Here’s the move that changed everything: we didn’t choose one.

We offered roles to both—one senior, one mid-level.

Different skill sets, same values. Complementary strengths, zero ego, and a shared drive to build something great.

Both said yes.

Suddenly, we weren’t “hoping” one hire would carry the whole function. We were building a finance team in a growing company with coverage, redundancy, and momentum.

And the results were immediate.

What Founders Should Know Before Hiring Finance Talent

This experience hammered home a few lessons we now treat as non-negotiable.

1) Hiring isn’t filling a seat, it’s building a function

A finance hire should be evaluated against where you’re going, not where you are.

If you’re scaling, you need someone who can create structure, not just keep up with transactions.

2) Keep your pipeline warm

The reason we recovered fast is because we didn’t start from zero.

A warm pipeline gives you options when things change.

3) Validate “gut feel” with structured assessment

We still trust instincts, but we now validate with data:

• Structured interviews

• Practical assessments

• Real-world scenarios

4) Cultural fit matters more in finance than founders expect

Finance touches everything: payroll, cash, reporting, planning, and decision-making.

If the energy is wrong, the whole business feels it.

5. A financial controller for small business needs ownership, not just accuracy.

Accuracy is table stakes.

What you really want is someone who:

• Spots issues early

• Builds processes

• Creates visibility

• Communicates clearly

• Helps leadership make decisions

That’s the difference between “accounting” and control.

When Should a Small Business Hire a CFO or Build a Finance Team?

This is one of the most common questions we get.

You don’t need a CFO because you hit a certain revenue number. You need a CFO (or CFO-level support) when the complexity and decision speed demand it.

Here are a few signals:

• You’re growing, but you don’t have consistent cash flow control for SMBs

• You can’t confidently predict the next 8–12 weeks

• You’re making hiring or marketing decisions without clear financial guardrails

• Your “reporting” is mostly historical and arrives too late

• You don’t have a clear view of margins by product, service line, or channel

At that point, you need strategic finance for small business owners, not just bookkeeping.

And yes, one of the first upgrades is implementing cashflow forecasting for SMBs so you can see dips before they become emergencies.

How This Led to Our CFO Services for Small Businesses

Around the same time we rebuilt the internal team, we also connected with a top-tier CFO and a VP of Finance who joined our advisory board.

Overnight, our finance function leveled up, not just operationally, but strategically.

We moved from “closing the books” to:

• Tracking KPIs in real time

• Improving working capital decisions

• Building forecasting rhythms

• Creating clearer accountability

And then the obvious question came up:

If this is what we needed to scale… why wouldn’t our clients need the same?

That’s why we added Accounting, Bookkeeping, Financial Control, and “rent-a-CFO” support to the TMG Books toolkit.

Because owners don’t just want reports. They want control.

How Our CFO Services Help Small Businesses Take Control of Their Numbers

Here’s what CFO services for small businesses should actually do (in plain language):

1) Create visibility

You should know, at any moment:

• Where cash is going

• What cash is coming in

• What your commitments are

• What your margins look like

2) Build systems that scale

You need finance systems for scaling businesses that reduce manual work and increase speed.

That includes automation, clean categorization, and a reporting rhythm that doesn’t break when volume increases.

3) Turn numbers into decisions

The goal isn’t “nice spreadsheets.”

The goal is decision-making:

• If cash is tightening, you see it early and adjust.

• If working capital is off, you fix it.

• If a product line is underperforming, you act.

That’s what a modern finance function delivers.

4) Support the founder with strategic guidance

Founders shouldn’t be guessing.

With the right support, you can make faster decisions with more confidence, because the numbers are clear.

What’s Next?

If you’re a business owner who’s tired of slow reporting, unclear cash, or reactive accounting, let’s talk.

Whether you need a full finance overhaul, KPI dashboards, cashflow forecasting for SMBs, or strategic CFO support, we’ve built this for you.

Cash is king. And what you measure is what you control.

Email us at hello@yourtmg.com and we’ll map out what “financial control” should look like in your business.