The CFO'S Perspective

There is no doubt that hiring in accounting and finance right now is harder than ever before. And yet, despite today’s challenges, companies still need CFOs, which means that simply going without a CFO is not an option.

So, how do you overcome today’s hiring challenges to win the talent war? When you are hiring a CFO, it is going to be important that you focus on finding someone that meets all of your most critical needs first, before trying to check any boxes on your wants list. While this may seem like obvious advice for organizations that are keenly aware of the difference between their wants and needs for the role, many companies struggle to draw a distinction between the two. To complicate matters, what may be a need for one organization might be a want for another even if both are in the same industry or business stage. Even within a single organization what may have been considered a nice-to-have the last time the role was vacant could very well be a must-have this time around.

Let’s take a look at some of the criteria that organizations use to determine their needs and wants when hiring a CFO:

Hiring a fractional (part-time) CFO is becoming increasingly popular because this type of employment engagement offers significant cost benefits. Outsourcing their CFO role allows an organization to bring someone in for a fraction of the cost because they do not incur expenses related to benefits, bonuses, payroll taxes, etc. As Michael Newsome explains when talking about utilizing fractional service providers,

“Searching for ways to optimize human capital, while fighting the inefficiencies of talent markets, is an ever-present challenge for businesses in the middle market. The human capital corollary to the engineer’s triangle (fast, cheap, reliable – pick two) seems to be availability, relevant experience, and compensation expectation... An increasingly popular way for businesses to address this issue is using fractional service providers, which have proliferated significantly in their breadth and depth of service offerings in the middle market... A fractional solution can offer a way for a business to access additional capability at a lower total cost than bringing on a full-time hire.”

And while the cost savings are clear, many companies remain resistant to hiring a fractional CFO. Their biggest fear is that doing so requires that they sacrifice on quality in a role that requires the utmost proficiency. Leadership with these types of reservations will typically ask questions like, “Is a part-time CFO as good as a full-time CFO?” or “Can you really trust a fractional CFO to perform at a high level?”

Organizations that question whether a fractional CFO can truly get the job done well for less should consider how a fractional CFO can:

Current data from CFO Dive indicates that the hiring woes companies and nonprofit organizations are experiencing will continue well into 2023 (or even beyond). The question for nonprofit organizations is how do you overcome today’s challenges?

Luckily, there are several key trends emerging that are enabling nonprofits to hire well despite the market’s current challenges. These trends span areas from how pay is communicated to how employees work, and everything in between.

As CFO Selections celebrates its 20th anniversary of providing business owners with senior finance and accounting services, I want to help business owners and hiring managers understand the challenge faced in hiring accounting employees in 2022.

Unfortunately, this challenge is not going to disappear after this year. Today I will provide some ideas later to overcome the challenge, … but first, we must understand why we have this challenge.

Today’s top CFOs are vastly different than their predecessors because the CFO role itself has changed so dramatically over the last few decades. What used to be a strictly numbers-based executive financial role, has now evolved into a pivotal leadership position that touches numerous areas of the company including HR, IT, operations, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. And this sweeping change has ushered in a shift in what is expected of a CFO’s skillset as well.

The most salient difference is how today’s CFOs are required to utilize technology. CFOs are expected to be well versed in technology options for streamlining operations, meeting business needs, informing strategic decision making, and maximizing growth. As a result, tech proficiency has become the single most newly sought after skill when hiring a new CFO.

The war for talent that emerged amid The Great Resignation is still going strong in the areas of accounting and finance. As Hannah Green explains,

“The accounting sector has a problem with numbers. Specifically, it’s becoming harder and harder for firms to attract top talent. Why? There just aren’t enough talented bodies to go around. In what’s come to be known as the ‘war for talent’, top firms are finding it increasingly difficult to secure and retain highly qualified finance and accounting professionals.”

With so much economic uncertainty the employment landscape in 2022 will likely remain tumultuous. Information about how many people are employed, where, and for how much is going to continue to dominate the business news headlines. And much like last year, compensation will be at the forefront of many employees’ minds as they watch their cost of living increase and worry whether their pay will keep pace.

Of course, for the nation’s unemployed, discussions about how compensation may fluctuate this year remain inconsequential. And for small businesses that have been doing their best to absorb rising costs without laying people off or shutting down, the idea of giving raises this year is likely going to be a moot point. But for middle management, executive leadership, and HR personnel at mid-sized to large companies, the question of what to expect in the way of raises remains critical to business planning.

So, what should you plan for a raise this year?

When you need to fill a leadership position, who can help find the right candidate for the role?

Recruiting companies fall into one of two camps, either retained search or contingent search firms. Understanding how these approaches differ is key in determining which is a better fit for your hiring needs.

Over the last 15 years, we have worked with more than 2,000 consulting and search clients, placing CFOs at companies spanning a wide variety of industries. In that time, we have evaluated innumerable recruitment prospects, giving us unique perspective into the types of questions, misconceptions, and concerns that arise during the hiring process. The most common questions we hear are regarding the nature of retained search as prospective clients try to determine what kind of recruiting firm is going to be best for their open role.