Our group of strategic CFOs consults with your business to provide financial leadership and groom your finance department into a value-creation center, rather than an overhead center.
The CFO Gap
In our 25 years of experience working with entrepreneurial companies, we've discovered that a gap exists in the financial leadership of many firms. This gap has been created in large part due to the increased automation of the accounting functions as computers become faster and more powerful.
The problem with managing growth for most organizations is that it is not a seamless, smooth process, but rather a wrenching, chaotic one. Growth requires substantial and dramatic changes in the skill sets of personnel, in systems, and in processes. Ideally, companies should ramp up little by little as growth occurs. Unfortunately, acquiring new skills, systems and processes little by little is generally not feasible.
Life Cycle of a CFO
As a company lurches through the growth process, the skill set required of its CFO changes. The skills required to run a $10 million company are different than those required to lead a $40 million company. Consequently, a "life cycle" of a CFO emerges.
As a company grows, they postpone hiring a CFO until a problem occurs. The first year of a CFO's job is consumed with "cleaning up" the financial records of the company. After having successfully whipped the financials into shape the CFO looks to the entrepreneur for new challenges. The CEO, not wanting to lose the new team member, assigns the CFO new jobs duties in order to keep him/her challenged. At this point, the CFO is given IT, HR, legal and other responsibilities. In essence, becoming the "Chief Administration Officer".
The third year the CFO wants a raise or new challenges. Unfortunately, the job is only worth so much or something happens to the economy and the CFO leaves.
The Strategic CFO Solution
In the B2B CFO consulting environment we have seen several needs of entrepreneurial companies over and over again. Cash flow issues, profitability issues, leadership issues, etc.
Over the past 22 years we have developed a unique process that shortens the time for a CFO to achieve results that address these issues. We have an 8-step process that drives improved profits and cash flow at less than the cost of a full time CFO.
Get your questions answered about CFO Consulting with a complimentary consultation.
Get your questions answered about CFO Consulting with a complimentary consultation.
Here's a video of our client, Marshall Hoffman, President and Founder of Steel Supply LP, discussing his consulting experience with The Strategic CFO: