The CFO'S Perspective

The Perks of Being Royalty

One of the best things about being the sole owner of a privately held company is that you have a great deal of discretion as to how your business is operated.  You get to make the rules.  It’s like being the King or Queen.

This includes deciding on the form and content of the financial information your accounting staff prepares. Particularly if you have no debt or outside investors, you can decide what you want to see and how often you want to see it.

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? 

With Thanksgiving approaching, conversations and thoughts invariably turn to gratitude and thankfulness.  We try to show our gratitude to the people in our personal lives and our own circumstances.  However, do you do the same in your business life?

Readers may wonder why a space dedicated to CFOs and finance issues is taking the time to discuss a decidedly “soft skill.”  Why should people in business be mindful of expressing genuine gratitude?

Employee motivation comes from several sources – compensation, promotion, and benefits are the most popular.  However, do not overlook the power of showing gratitude.

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.

As head of CFO Selections corporate philanthropy initiatives, the question I get most often, especially now at budget time, from other company executives is, “What is the right amount of money to budget for donations?”

Before answering this question, I usually ask,

What are you hoping to achieve with your corporate philanthropy?”

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?

Most of my vacations are pretty typical – camp on the Sound, cruise to Alaska, plane trip to kid-friendly destination, road trip to friends. 

... but not this year.

This year, I fulfilled a long-time dream and went to Africa.  I did the multi-day safari, fed the giraffes at the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, and enjoyed local cuisine and cultures. But mostly… I did financial spreadsheets.  And IT infrastructure planning. And computer teaching.  In other words, pretty much the same things I do all the time, except in hotter weather.