The CFO'S Perspective

The list of skills and experience necessary to be a successful nonprofit CFO is long and varied, which can make it seem like a Goldilocks type of situation at first glance. And yet, maybe that isn’t a bad thing! In our line of work, we typically call it something else: balance.

Let’s discuss some of the ways in which this kind of balance is not only helpful for a nonprofit CFO, but critical to their success.

Regardless of size, industry, or location, strong financial leadership is a vital component of any organization’s success. Yet, small and mid-sized companies often forgo hiring a CFO due to budgetary constraints. This is where bringing in a fractional resource can help! An outsourced fractional CFO will perform the same duties as an in-house full-time CFO, but on a more limited time basis.

For those that are not familiar with the term, “fractional leadership” covers anything that is less than full-time. That means a fractional CFO may perform ongoing accounting/finance duties for a set number of hours every week for months or even years while the company grows until it reaches a point where it has enough work to justify the cost of a full-time hire. In this way, a fractional CFO is a great steppingstone as an organization grows or undergoes significant transition. In other situations, a fractional CFO may be brought in to provide short-term business project oversight or to clean up a mess that has resulted from a major accounting issue.

So, let’s look at when a fractional CFO is an absolute must-have.

According to the 2024 Report to the Nations by the ACFE (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners), organizations lose 5% of their revenue to fraud annually. That equates to a more than $5 trillion loss to fraud globally every year. And while we tend to hope that this kind of thing is happening somewhere else instead of in our backyard, the bulk of this fraud isn’t occurring overseas. In fact, the US and Canada are responsible for 38% of all reported fraud cases worldwide, which gives them the unfortunate distinction of leading the world in fraud.

We’ve known for years now that business fraud is on the rise dramatically across most categories. According to the ACFE, asset misappropriation schemes are the most common but least costly, while financial statement fraud is the least common but most costly. Falling somewhere in the middle of both spectrums are other forms of business fraud like billing schemes, check and payment tampering, and theft of non-cash assets. But there are also far more sophisticated fraud schemes emerging these days as well. A Cybersecurity Dive article from earlier this year revealed a new startling trend – the uptick in financial scams using deepfake technology. While this may sound more like Sci-Fi movie than a business news headline, consider the fact that a recent report by Deloitte speculated that fraud losses may hit $40 billion by 2027 due to generative AI magnifying the risk of banking fraud.

At this point, it isn’t a question of whether your organization will become a target of fraud anymore, but when. Of course, that begs the question: How are you protecting your organization from fraud?

“My finance leader is leaving! Now what do I do?!”

In some sense, it’s tempting to offer the platitude, “a debit is a debit everywhere we go!” (which is a colloquial way to suggest that all accounting is created equal). However, while there’s some truth to that fact that every organization replacing a leader will need to take some core actions, you don’t need to drill down very far to realize that each business has unique elements to consider as well. Those unique facets will add complexity to how you respond to the reality of a financial leader leaving your organization.

The following guide will help your organization evaluate how ready it is for turnover in a finance leadership role, offer suggestions for how you can be better prepared in case your executive finance leader leaves, and provide key insights into what to do next if the loss of your financial leader happens suddenly.

A business valuation is a critical component of securing a company’s future. Whether it’s done as part of a business sale, merger agreement, litigation proceedings, investment negotiation, succession planning, estate planning, or in compliance with financial regulations, a company valuation gives all included parties reliable information about a business’s financial worth and risk level to aid in strategic decision-making.

While the specifics of the business will clearly determine its calculated value at the conclusion of the process, one person is instrumental in helping the company to arrive at that final number. An experienced CFO plays a key role in any business valuation by leveraging their financial expertise to offer strategic insights along the way and ensure an accurate final assessment of the company’s value.

Aesop’s fable about the race between the tortoise and the hare provides a story to show how a race is not always for the swiftest. In the business world, some companies are very focused on short-term financial results while others are managing for the very long-term time horizon. Some companies are working to improve their operations and financial results in order to sell the business in a few years, while others are building a business for the next generation of owners.

When there is a need to hire a new CFO, the question the CEO and the owners should consider asking is: do I need a tortoise or a hare as my next CFO?

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!