Why Outsourcing Your Accounting and Finance Makes Sense
Growing a winery or CPG brand involves nonstop strategic decisions. Should you expand distribution, invest in new equipment, or ramp up marketing? These questions get a whole lot easier to answer when your numbers are precise and your bookkeeping is rock-solid.
That’s why an increasing number of founders turn to outsourcing accounting and finance — not just to save money, but to gain access to the right expertise, the right systems, and the flexibility to scale. It’s a strategic leap that brings immediate cost relief and long-term clarity when it comes to financial strategy.
Lower Costs And Increased Efficiency
Keeping an in-house finance team can get expensive fast. Salaries, benefits, software licenses, and ongoing training add up. Many winery and CPG founders simply don’t need a full-time payroll for every specialty.
You might only require a few hours a week of a controller’s help, plus occasional CFO-level guidance. Paying for those slivers of time across multiple roles quickly becomes unmanageable.
When you outsource, you:
Pay only for the hours and expertise you truly need
Skip employee benefits and payroll taxes
Avoid constant hiring or training expenses
Reduce costs tied to software subscriptions and hardware upgrades
Gain extra support with compliance and regulatory obligations
Let’s take a quick look at potential in-house vs. outsourced expenses:
Expense In-house team Outsourced team
Salaries Significantly higher fixed cost Scaled, paying only for needed roles
Benefits and payroll taxes Full responsibility on you Included in service fee
Software and tech tools Multiple licenses Usually covered by partner’s stack.
Ongoing training Time-intensive and costly Service provider handles it internally
With accounting outsourcing benefits like these, it’s no surprise that so many brands consider it a more cost-effective financial management model. Efficiency also improves when you have pros who specialize in streamlined processes.
Put simply, founders usually only need a fraction of time from seven different specialists. Outsourcing means getting those fractional experts without juggling multiple hires.
Industry Expertise Matters: Why The Right Outsourced Partner Makes All The Difference
I’ve seen what happens when generalist accounting firms try to handle accounting and finance outsourcing for wineries or emerging CPG businesses. They lack the nuanced understanding of inventory complexity, cash flow timing, and compliance demands, and that learning curve can lead to errors — or worse, serious strategic blind spots.
When you work with a partner who already specializes in your sector:
They immediately know how to structure your books for multi-year aging of wine or for multiple CPG SKUs.
They’re aware of unique capital demands, like seasonal purchasing or distribution cycles.
They bring proven systems for margin analysis, trade spend tracking, and overhead allocation.
They reduce the risk of misallocated costs by understanding industry-specific production timelines.
Our team at Balanced Business Group provides Accounting services and Finance solutions tailored to these industries. Everyone on staff has deep knowledge of wine and COG operations, so we understand the pressures of scaling a wine club or ramping up production for a new food line. In other words, we don’t need an introduction to the nuances of barrel costs or multistep co-packer agreements.
See our article, Why Your Accountant Needs To Be A CPG Expert for more insights into why having a genuinely informed partner pays dividends in better processes and stronger decision-making.
Access To Strategic Financial Insights And A Deep Industry Network
My view is that CPG accounting solutions and winery finance support should go beyond simple bookkeeping. Outsourcing creates a window into expert analysis that guides your brand’s trajectory. It answers questions like, “How profitable is this varietal or SKU?” or “Is our trade spend delivering enough lift in sales?”
Our team combines comprehensive data with hands-on expertise. For instance, we use insights from across the wine and CPG markets to provide:
Benchmarking on gross margins and overhead ratios
Trade spend efficiency checks
Targeted guidance on pricing strategy and marketing ROI
Scenario planning for capacity expansions or new product launches
Reliable data is one thing, but interpreting it for better decisions is where real value emerges. For example, take figuring out whether to increase production on your top-selling product line. If you only see raw sales numbers, you might overlook the true cost of scaling. A focused finance partner evaluates your overhead impact, recommended reorder points, and how seasonal demand might affect your bottom line. You can also see how your brand compares to peers, which helps you spot opportunities or red flags early.
Another plus is that you tap into our industry network — a network we've built over years. Because we work almost exclusively with wine and CPG brands, we know specialized lenders, consultants, ops experts, and sales teams. If you’re struggling with distribution challenges, we likely know a solution. If you’re planning a capital raise, we can introduce you to the right connections.
For more on KPIs worth tracking, see Understanding Key Financial Metrics For Food And Wine Entrepreneurs.
Scalability And Flexibility
Wineries and CPG businesses experience peaks and troughs in demand — think holiday orders, new store listings, seasonal club shipments, and summer surges. Ramping up your in-house finance team for those peaks and then scaling it back in slow seasons is complicated if you rely on in-house talent.
Outsourcing is different. You can easily adjust the scope of services, whether you’re launching a new product line or entering an off-season lull.
Major upsides include:
Ramping services when volume spikes
Avoiding high fixed staffing costs
Maintaining consistent quality during transitions or expansions
Letting your outsourced partner handle additional budgeting tasks if growth accelerates
Supporting more sophisticated forecasting for expansion or contraction
Using this model keeps you nimble. If sales double in a quarter, you won’t be frantically hiring. Your outsourced partner can simply step up support for a short time. Then, if sales dip again, you’re not stuck paying for underutilized roles.
Focus On Core Business Operations
As a founder, your job is to push growth through product quality, brand building, and customer relationships. When you try to handle every aspect of financial management alone — payroll duties, reconciliations, cost analyses — you end up buried in tasks that steal time from your core strengths. That’s why outsourcing accounting and finance frees you to concentrate on what sets your brand apart.
Operational benefits include:
More time to perfect products, refine marketing, and engage customers
Less chaos from juggling back-office tasks
Peace of mind knowing professionals are closing the books accurately
Smoother coordination among departments, since detailed financial tasks are handled externally
One founder I spoke with mentioned how focusing on distribution partnerships became her priority once she outsourced the numbers. Instead of hunching over messy spreadsheets, she spent the freed-up hours meeting buyers and negotiating new placements. That shift was pivotal in expanding her product’s retail footprint.
Ultimately, better financial clarity means faster decision-making. You’ll know exactly how close you are to break-even. If you’re unsure, see How To Calculate Breakeven For A CPG Company for a step-by-step approach. Having immediate, accurate data helps you iterate on pricing, roll out promotions at the right moments, and invest in growth without guesswork.
Improve Performance With Strategic Outsourcing of Accounting and Finance
Once you understand the cost savings, the access to specialized expertise, the immediate scalability, and the time you reclaim for growth, outsourcing accounting and finance stands out as a powerful strategic decision. Hiring a partner who has walked the same path with wineries and CPG brands delivers day-to-day stability and a smarter approach to future expansion. In short, you get:
Reduced overheads
Increased efficiency
Better industry knowledge
Scalable services
More focus on growth
Stronger compliance practices and streamlined reporting
If you crave financial clarity beyond what a generalist can provide, it might be time to consider an outsourced model.
The team here at Balanced Business Group specializes in supporting wineries and CPG brands through solutions that connect the dots between your vision and your balance sheet. We understand how to optimize margin, navigate seasonality, track complex inventory, and help you plan for sustainable growth.
Contact us today for a consultation. Together, we’ll create a plan that aligns finance and accounting precision with a deep appreciation for your industry’s unique demands.
Author: Pedro Noyola
Pedro Noyola is the CEO of Balanced Business Group (BBG), a company dedicated to helping Founders in the CPG food and beverage industry gain financial confidence. At BBG, Pedro combines traditional accounting with tailored financial guidance, providing industry-specific insights to ensure sustainable growth for passionate food entrepreneurs. He is also an angel investor and a mentor to emerging CPG brands via SKU and TIG Collective. Pedro’s career spans leadership roles at FluentStream, where he helped the company achieve recognition as one of the Fastest Growing Companies in America by Inc., and Telogis, where he was part of a team that grew the company’s recurring revenue from $50 million to $1.2 billion in under five years.
Pedro holds a BA and MPA from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, continually seeking growth in both leadership and learning. Outside of work, Pedro enjoys family time and outdoor activities, drawing personal fulfillment from his roles as a husband and father.
