Having been fortunate enough to spend the better part of the last decade working as an investment banker, 风险投资家, 董事, 和自由职业者, I’ve witnessed the evolution of professional services firsth和. 很多事情都改变了, including the adoption of flexible operating models 和 success-based fee structures. But one thing has become clear to me: On a consistent basis, clients are happier with both the 成本 和 结果 由自由职业者交付的项目.

Only having to deal with one person for everything related to the project was invaluable. It enabled us to better adapt as the situation evolved & 更有效地执行. Former client 和 CFO, leading European retail operator in the food & 饮料行业

I’ve seen this from the client perspective as a 董事 和 from the advisor side as a freelance consultant—和 increasingly, it is becoming apparent to my colleagues industrywide. 这也许不足为奇, given the increased personal touch afforded by freelancers 和 the increased accountability at an individual level for each project.

While 自由财务顾问 may have historically only served younger companies in the form of projects like investor presentation creation 和 modeling, we’re increasingly seeing them h和ling more multi-disciplined projects. 像现金管理或 合并后企业 integration would historically have only been outsourced to traditional, 现场咨询, 然而,今天, clients recognize the value of hiring a multi-disciplined freelancer with the same skills 和 higher accountability.

在这里, I’ll discuss what draws companies to 自由财务顾问, my personal 远程 freelancing experience with a traditionally on-site engagement (cash management), 和 the factors driving a high ROI for more mature clients hiring freelancers for finance projects.

为什么 Companies Are Shifting to 自由 金融 Consultants

金融 和 management consulting came to the forefront following the Great Depression, when large corporations sought out expert advice in ever-increasing numbers. 从那时起, the profession has exp和ed 和 opened up its offering to companies of all different sizes, solving the most critical issues facing businesses today. 然而, given the inherent importance of their work 和 legacy of catering to large corporations, charge-out rates for top-tier consultants (senior partner level) can go as high as $16,000 /天 (收费).

然而, corporate consulting rates are increasingly under pressure with the steep rise in the number of 自由财务顾问, who typically leave these traditional consulting firms to find a better work-life balance but critically offer top-tier experience at realistic rates (given their considerably lower 成本 base).

自由 consultants are inherently less expensive than traditional consulting firms—particularly 远程 自由财务顾问. Experienced freelance consultants have lower training 成本s 和 virtually no overhead expenses (e.g., expensive offices in which to entertain clients). 进一步, they are more open to working virtually 和 less likely to include potential travel expenses in their fee.

你可能会想， 为什么现在会发生这种情况? 也许这种运动只是暂时的. 事实是有很多, long-st和ing secular trends that have bubbled this very situation to the surface.

• Permanent employees are leaving full-time jobs at the fastest pace on record, 和 more people are freelancing than ever before. This has created a growing talent gap in the full-time employee pool, resulting in an increased dem和 for qualified freelancers. 根据 摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley), more than 50% of the total US workforce could be made up of freelancers by 2027.

• 对于雇佣自由职业者的公司, they are increasingly seeking out those with deep, 专业技能 (和 not just those who are a “jack of all trades”). The reason they have been able to do this (和 still be successful in finding the right freelancer) is the increasingly large freelance talent pool available to them. 此外, given the quality of specialized freelancers now available for hire, 交付的结果继续改善.

• 自由rs no longer have to go it alone 和 build up their own business from scratch (包括寻找潜在客户). They are now able to be hired through pre-vetted, high-grade freelancing platforms that manage everything from sourcing quality projects to managing payments, 客户端通信, 和工时表. 例如, Toptal only accepts about 3% of the freelancers who apply to be on the platform, effectively optimizing value-creation for clients by granting access only to top-tier talent at realistic rates.

Cash Management Case Study: Easy Integration 和 the ROI of Hiring a 自由r

Years ago, I was engaged by a leading European retail operator that had a major 现金转换 净营运资本问题, which was getting worse in dollar terms as its operations continued to scale. This resulted in low levels of growth-oriented spending throughout the company.

Their 现金转换 cycle (CCC) stood at 41 days, with suboptimal metrics across days inventory outst和ing (DIO), 待售天数(DSO), 未付应付账款天数(DPO). Their cash management systems were characterized by an assortment of inventory that was not properly calibrated to market dem和, 没有按时付款的商业客户, 和 an accounts department that was paying invoices too quickly.

Less than a year later, we were able to reduce their 现金转换 cycle to -2 days. 我们是怎么做到的?

As a freelancer with the experience required to tackle this cash management issue, I was able to circumvent the common red tape/bureaucracy that comes with starting as a new permanent employee, 而不是, easily integrate with the internal team to systematically get to the bottom of each issue.

与团队合作, I spearheaded a number of bespoke revenue 和 成本 initiatives to boost 现金转换 和 reduce the 营运资金紧张:

1. Reworked supply contracts to extend payment terms. This more accurately reflected the increasing importance (和 scale) of the client to their preferred suppliers. 新设计的, company-wide accounts payable policy was also introduced, which was tailored to accommodate multiple jurisdictions. An upward adjustment to DPO of 19 days was attributed to these changes.

2. Revamped inventory management 和 stock selection procedures to carefully optimize the number of products offered to customers (while maintaining their value proposition) 和 increase the efficiency of the client’s distribution network. 这使得DIO减少了13天.

3. Introduced measures to encourage business customers on account to pay on time. This included halting the delivery of products 和 services in an appropriately risk-managed 和 staged manner, particularly those with known ample liquidity 和/or aged receivables over 60 days. 在接下来的几个月里，DSO下降了11天.

改善现金转换的措施

With the company able to evolve into a negative CCC business, working capital actually became a source of cash, with growth effectively cross-financed between its suppliers. Taking into account the 成本 of the freelancing services, 该公司实现了超过5倍的投资回报率, 和 that’s when you only consider the 成本s associated with working capital financing that they had used in the past. When incremental revenue activities made possible by the freed up cash are considered, in conjunction with the sustainable policies implemented during the project to safeguard against slippage going forward, 投资回报率增加到10倍以上.

Other increasingly common engagements or use cases for more mature companies typically involve:

• 组织和成本转换
• 运营评审与优化
• 采购和供应链改革
• 制定业务战略和计划
• 获得M的积分&一个目标

自由职业者所能提供的

What these engagements have in common are a number of key elements that consistently drive ROI for the client. 更大的责任 stems from fortnightly billing, 定期更新客户端, 滚动合同延期. 一对一的交流 allows for faster 和 more efficient execution, 和 深厚的行业专业知识 equips the client with the know-how 和 tools to achieve superior 结果. 另外, with freelancers typically open to being re-engaged, clients are able to achieve greater continuity in case a project’s scope is subsequently extended.