CFOs for hire: small businesses get a boost from freelancing financial officers.

• Author: Titus, Stephen
• Position: Attitude at Altitude - B2B CFO-CIO - Chief Financial Officers

HOLLY HILL has been in the trucking industry most of her life. Her family started their business, Hill Brothers Trucking, more than 20 years ago, but when she decided to start a new truck line under her own name, a whole new host of problems surfaced beyond the day-to-day headaches of the freight industry.

"I was struggling with growing the company while keeping a handle on operations," Hill said. "I didn't have accurate financial statements so I didn't know where my money was going."

Like most small-business owners, Holly chose to be in trucking because she knew the industry and had family connections that could help her land customers and get the business off the ground. What she didn't know was how to develop cash and tax forecasts, and establish a financial strategy for a rapidly growing company. While most big businesses have a full-time chief financial officer with decades of experience to iron out these problems, Hill and other small business owners like her don't have the need--or the money--for a full-time CFO.

But a strange byproduct of the baby-boomer era is emerging: senior-level managers from larger companies looking for more flexibility with their time and less pressure at work, but who still welcome the challenge of growing a business. These CFOs are forming partnerships and farming themselves out part-time to small and medium-sized companies.

Leading this trend is B2B CFO-CIO. The Phoenix-based company offers the services of a seasoned chief financial officer or chief information officer, without the cost and commitment that goes with hiring a highly paid full-time employee. Acting much like a law firm, members of B2B CFO-CIO bill...