Daryl LaFountain or the upsurge of a financial and political operations expert

Meet Daryl La Fountain and some of his financial services thoughts? You need a team of smart, reliable people who can help you pursue your goals. But hiring is expensive. Besides a full-time salary, employees have other requirements, such as benefits, bonuses, vacation time and equipment. Furthermore, you will need support for recruitment and for building and managing your compensation plans. Although some of this is unavoidable, you can minimize your financial burden by including contractors in your hiring plans. For example, instead of hiring a full-time marketing director and expecting them to be a jack-of-all-trades, consider hiring a team of freelancers. This will provide you with the expertise you need without the headcount. The same approach can apply to your management team. A fully burdened CFO can cost $300,000-$350,000 annually (sometimes more for “hot” areas like software as a service) and might be more than you need. Hiring a fractional CFO to provide advice and guidance is a more cost-effective option.

Daryl LaFountain‘s guides on improving your firm financial situation: With the advent of modern technology in the field of accounting and finance, organizing your business finances is much easier. Instead of doing the calculations and analysis of financial transactions manually, you can automate everything with the help of must-have tools and software intended for keeping track of your business finances. Also, you can better organize your company’s finances if all your financial records are automated and can be accessed digitally. For example, you can use the relevant accounting software to do online invoicing. Instead of going through the physical copies of the transactions, which is time-consuming and a bit of a hassle, using technology will allow you to automate and organize your finances better.

If meeting monthly health insurance premiums seems impossible, what will you do if you have to go to the emergency room, where a single visit for a minor injury like a broken bone can cost thousands of dollars? If you’re uninsured, don’t wait another day to apply for health insurance. It’s easier than you think to wind up in a car accident or trip and fall down a flight of stairs. If you’re employed, your employer may offer health insurance, including high-deductible health plans that save on premiums and qualify you for a Health Savings Account (HSA). If you need to buy insurance on your own, investigate the plans offered by the health insurance marketplace of the Affordable Care Act–there are federal plans or your state may have its own plan. Look at quotes from different insurance providers to find the lowest rates and see if you qualify for a subsidy based on your income. If you have health issues, know that a more expensive plan could be cost-effective for you; research the options. If you’re under 26, your best choice may be to stay on your parents’ health insurance, if they have it–an option allowed since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act. If you can manage it, offer to reimburse them for the additional cost of keeping you on their plan.

Yup, taxes! Taxes are annoying, but they’re certainly not going away anytime soon. So make sure your long-term income projections include taxes. Not planning for taxes can impact your cash flow in a major way. In addition, you definitely want to look into tax savings investment options and stay up to speed on any relevant tax deductions you can apply to help you save money on tax payments. You can plan to sit with a tax accountant or financial planner to help ensure your plan for taxes is adequate. You should also check out our blog post on how to reduce your taxable income! Estate planning is not something a lot of people like to think about, but it’s essential! It allows you to determine exactly what happens to your assets after you are gone. It involves listing out all your assets, creating a will, and making it accessible to the people who need to have access to it. A financial planner or estate lawyer can help you set things up correctly.

About Daryl LaFountain: Daryl is an energetic professional CFO with a background in politics. Daryl has done fundraising, been a candidate, and worked in politically appointed positions in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Daryl has worked for Democratic candidates and nominees in 18 additional states. Reach out to Daryl about Political work if you: Are running for local office and are having trouble with ballot access.