The CFO: your business partner

“The numbers need to improve within 30 days”, is the first thing I tell my CFOs when they start work with a new client. As a part-time CFO we come in to put systems in place, train staff, deal with investors and analyse the financial statements.

I spent a lot of time in the corporate world and missed the feeling of making a difference. This is why I focus so much on creating results with our clients. So what makes a CFO a vital part of your business? What makes his role so important? 

CFO: YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER

CFOs nowadays take over much more than a scorekeeper role, and business owners and CEOs rely more and more on the insight of the CFOs to make business decisions, represent the business to external stakeholders and develop and implement strategies. 

I strongly believe that, as a business owner, you can’t afford to just have a numbers person next to you. You need someone who has the awareness of how to improve operations and at the same time develop long term strategies and implement them. 

GROWTH

The CFO must acknowledge and see future growth opportunities. The role has become much more global for the business and much less financial. And at the same time, they should measure and balance risk and return of any changes. They are well placed to identify any areas of operations that are outdated or not in sync with your goals and strategies. 

The CFO is a key ally to you, the owner/CEO and, like a business partner, will balance control and growth opportunities. Targeting the best opportunities and questioning whether what is being done now is still the right thing for the future. Ensuring that business decisions are grounded in sound financial data is a key part of the CFO’s role.   

SYSTEMS

Making sure that the right system is put in place to measure performance and turn data into performance insights. Long range planning and forecasting should be on every CEO and business owner’s agenda as they require information that enables strategic thinking about the future. 

And finally, if you as the CEO have to think about everything without any possibility to split the responsibilities, eventually, you will struggle to do the job right. Having too many responsibilities prevents you from focusing on what is important. You need someone to support you with providing insight and analysis to make the right decisions for your business. 

LONG TERM GROWTH

You, the owner or CEO, have to be an entrepreneur who takes accountability for the business success. When is the time right to hire a CFO? It is always a good time for putting systems in place. Once your company grows to about 500K in revenue per year it is time to bring in a part-time CFO. This gives you all the benefits without the expense of a full-time CFO. Allowing you to fully focus on growing and expanding your business in the long term.

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Rebecca Troch is a Senior Business Strategy Consultant with a strong financial background. She works with small and medium-sized businesses, to understand their numbers and achieve their operational and financial goals. As a Virtual CFO, she offers Financial & Management tools to understand & improve your business performance. She founded Counting the Apples Consulting to support companies in understanding their numbers and bring in the expertise they need to reach their goals. 

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