For many nonprofits, the finance function runs on a single person’s expertise. When that person leaves, institutional knowledge walks out the door and the risk that follows can be hard to recover from.
The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), the world’s oldest LGBTQ youth-serving organization, faced exactly that pressure. After repeated CFO turnover, HMI made a decision that felt unfamiliar (even a little frightening): outsourcing its entire finance and accounting function to BTQ Financial.
Nearly three years later, that leap has reshaped how the organization operates. In a recent webinar, HMI CEO Amy Harclerode and BTQ’s Surjeet Seehra shared what the journey looked like — the fears, the turning points, and the lessons for any nonprofit weighing the same move.
Why HMI Considered Outsourcing Its Finance Function
The catalyst was the slow accumulation of risk that comes from leaning too heavily on one in-house expert.
Coming out of the pandemic, HMI experienced turnover in CFO leadership more than once. Each transition exposed how fragile the setup had become:
- The burden of retraining and onboarding fell on the person who was leaving
- Deep financial expertise lived with only one or two people
- Record-keeping and compliance were vulnerable to gaps
- Leadership lacked clear visibility into cash flow and what was coming next
When a board member suggested outsourcing during yet another CFO search, HMI took the jump.
“It exposed us to some risk and some liability in terms of our financial record-keeping and our ability to understand what was coming — cash flow, all of the things we worry about as a nonprofit organization.” — Amy Harclerode, CEO, HMI
Confronting the Fears of Letting Go
Handing off finance to an outside team raised real concerns. Would responses still be fast? Would an outside expert judge the organization’s internal records?
In practice, those worries faded quickly. With a team responding instead of a single overstretched employee, turnaround actually improved rather than slowed.
The bigger adjustment was cultural. As a former Chief Development Officer, Amy had kept meticulous records — but for relationship management, not financial reporting. Learning to translate between those two worlds became an early growing pain for everyone involved.
“The things that I originally feared, I don’t think actually turned out to be a real fear.” — Amy Harclerode, CEO, HMI
From Vendor to a True Partnership
The shift from “outside vendor” to “trusted partner” didn’t happen overnight. It crystallized during HMI’s leadership transition, when Amy moved from CDO to CEO and had to learn finance fast.
Rather than handing over reports and walking away, BTQ started over — patiently bringing Amy and the full staff up to speed on how the numbers worked. That investment built trust that has only deepened since.
Today, the relationship feels less like a contract and more like a shared mission. When a grant comes in or an event succeeds, the BTQ team celebrates alongside HMI staff.
“It really does not feel like an outsourced group of people that is transactional outside of the organization. It truly feels like everybody is as invested in what we’re trying to do.” — Amy Harclerode, CEO, HMI
Building a Role That Didn’t Exist
One of the partnership’s biggest breakthroughs was a role BTQ had never offered before: a dedicated grants manager built specifically for HMI’s needs.
It’s a notoriously hard position to fill. The right person has to understand restricted giving and nonprofit accounting, connect deeply to internal information, and bridge several functions at once:
- Donor relationships and donor expectations
- Program delivery on the ground
- Development and forecasting
- Finance systems and reporting
Instead of selling a pre-packaged solution, BTQ and HMI designed the role together: writing the job description, interviewing candidates jointly, and onboarding the hire into both organizations’ cultures. The result has exceeded expectations, with that role now driving budget forecasting and strategic value.
“It’s a win-win on both ends, because now we can offer it to other organizations who are in need of this role.” — Surjeet Seehra, Partner, BTQ Financial
The Outsourced CFO Model in Practice
HMI no longer has an in-house CFO. Instead, a BTQ Vice President of Finance functions in that role attending board meetings, joining the finance committee, and showing up at events.
The effect on day-to-day staff has been quietly transformative. Accountability that once sat with the CEO or chief program officer has been pushed down into director-level roles, in a way leadership describes as empowering.
Most importantly, the organization now plans from a position of clarity rather than reaction. Long-range forecasting is real and specific, not a guess padded by a percentage.
“I can tell you what my cash flow is going to be 18 months from now, week by week.” — Amy Harclerode, CEO, HMI
What Sets a Real Partner Apart from a Vendor
For leaders trying to tell the difference between a genuine partner and a provider that just wants to bill monthly, HMI’s experience points to a clear test.
The signal was the absence of the upsell — no “we offer that, and here’s what it costs.” Instead, every new need started with a shared question: Can we figure this out together?
A real partner also knows your finances well enough to protect you from overreaching. Because BTQ understood what HMI could and couldn’t sustain, solutions were built around reality, not a sales target.
“Building something together rather than being sold and packaged something feels different.” — Amy Harclerode, CEO, HMI
Is Outsourced Finance Right for Your Organization?
Outsourced finance isn’t one-size-fits-all, but it serves a wide range of organizations. BTQ works with clients spanning roughly $3 million to $650 million in annual budget across many sectors:
- Human services and housing agencies
- Foundations and membership organizations
- Arts and culture nonprofits
- Organizations balancing government contracts, private funding, and medical billing
The goal: handle the back-office, compliance, and transactional work so organizations can focus on their mission instead of their cash flow.
How to Prepare Your Team for the Transition
Outsourcing finance is an organizational change. Treating it as such is what makes a partnership successful.
Many staff across departments will be asked to contribute information as the new partner builds out profiles, portfolios, and reports. That work takes time, so plan for it.
A few things that smooth the path:
- Socialize the change early and broadly, not just with finance
- Build in extra capacity for the onboarding period
- Make space to understand each person’s goals and concerns
- Reassure staff that no one has to become a finance expert overnight
Above all, transparency keeps the transition from sending the wrong message.
“Be transparent to the staff fully. It’s not about the role. We’re bringing expertise in, creating efficiencies, and better reporting and better systems.” — Surjeet Seehra, Partner, BTQ Financial
Build a Finance Function That Moves Your Mission Forward
HMI’s story shows what’s possible when a nonprofit stops settling for transactional finance support and finds a true partner — one invested in the mission, the team, and the numbers behind both.
If your organization is navigating CFO turnover, struggling with cash flow visibility, or simply wondering whether outsourcing could work for you, BTQ Financial can help you explore the right path forward.
Request a consultation with BTQ Financial today to learn how outsourced finance and accounting can free your team to focus on what matters most — your mission.