Here at CFO Selections, we are always in pursuit of the knowledge needed to continue growing personally as well as professionally. We are constantly reading, watching, and listening to resources across many different topics as well as discussing what we are learning along the way. Our goal is to foster a culture of continuous learning in ways that transcend our roles in the office. In keeping with that spirit, we periodically spotlight books our team members are reading.

In today’s CFO Selections book review and share, Jen Girard is highlighting The 36-Hour Day – a book that she has not only read recently but has also been living for almost a year as she journeys through her father’s memory loss. We hope that you will find the memory care tips that she shares here not only helpful but also inspirational if you are in a similar situation.

The first thing you need to know when creating a budget is that it is wrong from the start.

In the world of accounting and finance, we like things to be precise and tie out neatly. A budget, on the other hand, is meant to be a predictive tool and a roadmap to help you get to where you are going.

When you enter an address into your GPS, you often get three to four different routes you can take to get to your destination. Sometimes the route has construction or other traffic impediments along the way. Think of a budget somewhat the same way. You build assumptions that you can change based on the route you decide to take and the detours you may face along the way.

As fractional CFOs and Controllers our team engages with organizations in either a short-term or part-time capacity. One area where we often lend our expertise is in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and MRP (Material Requirements Planning) installations. Properly implementing and managing the accounting and finance elements of these systems requires a depth of financial acumen that is best suited for an experienced CFO to handle because there are wide reaching business implications to consider with this type of strategic execution.

In the many years that we have been helping clients with accounting systems conversions, we have noticed the same pitfalls tend to trip up organizations time and again. We are sharing those with you today in the hopes that calling them out can serve as cautionary lessons to help you avoid moving forward with an accounting system conversion that you will end up regretting later.

Originally published: Dec 20, 2022
Updated: April 8, 2024

According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) the U.S. job market has finally ushered in positive employment growth after several years of decline. However, growth is occurring far slower than employment analysts would have liked to see. In the nonprofit space, hiring remains challenging, especially within more skilled, technical, and senior-level roles.

How should nonprofit organizations overcome today’s hiring challenges?

As outsourced CFOs we are brought in to assist in a variety of situations across many different types of organizations. Every instance is unique in terms of what kind of financial position they are in, where they are excelling and/or struggling operationally, and what they are looking to get help with across their financial functions. As a result, their expectations can get hazy for the consulting CFO coming into the role. When this unclear view of what a fractional CFO should be doing is combined with financial management activities that are (either unintentionally or purposefully) against best practices or downright unethical, an outsourced CFO can find themselves in a sticky situation.

So, whether you are a consulting CFO looking for advice or a business leader looking for an idea of what to expect from the engagement, we have put together a quick resource to offer some guidance on how external CFOs handle ethical questions and issues.

If you’re looking to hire a CFO, have you stopped to consider whether you actually need one? Too often companies, especially successful small to mid-sized companies, rightly understand that they need strong financial leadership to maintain their growth and incorrectly conclude that they need to hire a full-time CFO to get it.

Now, as a company comprised entirely of seasoned CFOs and Controllers, we certainly understand the importance of having this kind of strong financial leadership! However, our experience also allows us to understand that executive financial leadership is not one-size-fits-all.

Often, companies that think they need an in-house CFO are better served by utilizing a fractional CFO or Controller instead. This is especially true for businesses below $50M in revenue, because at that level either the primary responsibilities of an in-house CFO are not needed, or they are handled by the business owner/CEO. What this means for your company is you may not need a CFO …at least in the traditional sense of the role!

As a business owner, you may find yourself in a conversation with your banking relationship manager who will suggest you talk to a Consulting CFO or introduce you to one of our partners at CFO Selections. You likely already know that a relationship manager sees themself as an advisory partner to your business and, therefore, wants you to succeed. However, it might not always be clear what they are looking for in working with a consulting CFO or why they are sending you in our direction.

Our team is used to discussing what’s included in a CFO’s job description. But this type of conversation usually centers around the commonalities that unite all CFO roles, not the nuanced differences for a specific industry or type of organization. But when talking about what a CFO for a nonprofit does, there are some unique elements to the role that are important to understand.