The CFO'S Perspective

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.

Love is in the air, which got us thinking… what is the love language of a CFO?

For those of you not familiar with “love languages” the basic premise is that different people have different personalities, which means they give and receive love in different ways. And while this may sound like it’s only related to romance it certainly doesn’t have to be! Fundamentally, love languages are a way to discuss how people build connections, feel appreciation, and perceive their value. The conversation around love languages focuses on giving someone else what they need and what they will appreciate the most.

So, what do CFOs really want?

Our team weighed in during a planning meeting, and their answers were too good not to share:

What would we do without our accountants? We rely on them for accuracy, reporting, transaction processing, analysis, and financial advice. For non-accountants, the discipline can be a mystery. So, we try to find a good accountant to add to our team and then we trust them to do their job. That’s what we should do, right?

Actually, no.

You shouldn’t trust your accountant. Well, hopefully, you can trust them, but you shouldn’t.

With all the buzz around generative AI in business, many finance professionals are eagerly waiting to see what the future will hold for AI usage in accounting and finance. Overall, the sentiment seems to be positive, although many are taking a more cautious approach as they wait to see where and how it will be utilized. But while AI integration is still in its early days for most small to mid-sized businesses, companies of all sizes across all industries have been benefiting from Machine Learning (ML) for decades and can largely credit their success to doing so.