The CFO'S Perspective

The recently signed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") contains over 800 pages of legislation to provide financial relief during this time of crisis. The bill provides emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

In response to numerous requests, we are providing resources to help you understand the CARES Act. To the best of our knowledge, these resources are current, but please check with the appropriate agencies to confirm the details.

Find out what the CARES Act means for you, your family, and your business.

Take a second to think about your company’s key personnel - your CEO, CFO, CIO, Controller, etc. Consider everything they bring to the table and the responsibilities they hold as well as the knowledge they’ve accumulated about your business and industry. Now, imagine that they suddenly disappear.

Business owners find due diligence daunting because of the cost and time required to do it effectively. They worry that the conversation with potential clients will be awkward to initiate and the process difficult to execute, lengthening the buying cycle. Furthermore, they fret about the risk of losing prospects from their sales pipelines, reducing overall conversion rates. However, the benefits far outweigh the risks of doing due diligence.

Editor’s Note: We are fortunate to have many exceptional clients. From time to time, we include “Company Spotlight” posts in our blog to express our gratitude and appreciation for the awesome work they do and the accomplishments they achieve. Enjoy!

Chocolate is for sale everywhere. Consumers can purchase it ready to eat at their local grocery stores or over the internet. They can buy it in a variety of forms for use in creating their own culinary delights. They have a vast selection of price and quality from which to choose. 

So, what did it take for one more company making chocolates to achieve the impressive success of Fran’s Chocolates? What was so special about the confections that started as giveaways to customers buying other products to something that a President of the United States chose to give as gifts to visitors to the White House? 

To answer a question we receive frequently, we turned to our team of CFOs for their insights. We received plenty of feedback about whether a company needs a CFO with industry experience from the CFO Selections team.  The depth and diversity of experience in the CFO Selections team again proves to be an excellent resource.

Read a sample of perspectives from CFOs who have decades of experience:

Recently a WSJ story shows the trend of more finance directors moving from corporate America to nonprofits. Such a story can be both an inspiration and risky to those using it as a reference. Today we want to highlight the trend, the reasons, the challenges, and why we also celebrate.

Organizations looking to outsource their financial needs often wonder who is best qualified to handle the intricacies of their business operations.

With the multitude of options available the landscape of potential financial solutions is vast. Factor in the solutions catered specifically towards SMBs, local businesses, privately-held businesses, and businesses in designated industries and the result is an overwhelming sea of possibilities. Within these choices are two distinctly different options – freelancers and firms.

Business owners tend to struggle with determining which type of provider will best suit their needs. Will a solopreneur or freelance CPA-CFO be sufficient? Or is a larger firm a better option?

Large, established companies usually have a full-time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as an integral member of their executive team. Your business might not be in a position yet to add a CFO to your executive suite. Or you might be ready but finding just the right person takes time. Perhaps you’re not quite sure what to expect from a CFO, and you need to learn more about what they do before hiring one.