Using Expansion as a Growth Strategy

The Direction

At this point, you might be actively seeking acquisitions to facilitate your market expansion. You may be launching new products or opening new markets, crossing state lines and borders in the process. An IPO may be in the future, so you need to plan for that. In this stage, all parts of the business must be running smoothly to ensure a successful expansion that can be sustained for the long term.

The CFO Function

Expansion plans invariably have complex ramifications – for operations, financing, sales, compliance, technology, infrastructure, and more and the CFO will inevitably need to keep a close eye on all of these. Each new product has an impact on systems, procedures and resources. Each new market involves tax planning, new employment rules and new compliance procedures – and these multiply with each new country you enter. Each company you merge with comes with its own lengthy list of financial, tax, legal and regulatory issues.

There are major decisions that will need to be made, and the CFO must weigh in on all of them. Whether it's mapping out a global strategy, driving an acquisition strategy, figuring out which processes to outsource, defining and measuring success against company goals or simply analyzing what works and what doesn't, the CFO function is crucial to the Expansion Stage.

Meeting Your Needs

When dealing with the myriad of complexities of expanding a mature company, going it alone seldom makes sense. There are simply too many aspects that involve expertise you are not likely to have in-house. That's where Armanino can really help, particularly with M&A matters and global expansion issues: