The CFO'S Perspective

A recession or downturn in the market is one of the most demanding scenarios for senior leadership to weather because there are so many possible responses to consider. Each decision leadership makes during this critical time can have a significant effect on the company’s ability to come out on the other side at all, let alone seize available opportunities to grow in the process. So, how can you strategically invest in your business during a downturn to increase the likelihood that it will be able to emerge stronger?

It is critical to act swiftly instead of ignoring the warning signs that a downturn is coming, worsening, or may last longer than anticipated. However, that does not mean giving into kneejerk reactions. A Harvard Business Review article summarizes it best by saying,

“Inaction is the riskiest response to the uncertainties of an economic crisis. But rash or scattershot action can be nearly as damaging. Rising anxiety (how much worse are things likely to get? how long is this going to last?) and the growing pressure to do something often produces a variety of uncoordinated moves that target the wrong problem or overshoot the right one.”

Have honest conversations with your leadership team to solicit feedback on how to proceed while leaning on the data. Focus on efforts on strategically managing expenses, acquiring assets to achieve your goals, prioritizing customer relationships, and developing new markets while focusing on your core competencies.

Companies that understand how finance and HR overlap and foster a relationship between the two are better poised for long-term growth than their less informed counterparts. The reason behind this is simple – knowing when and how to leverage your CFO to assist with hiring and employee retention can improve profit margins, encouraging sustainable long-term growth. Additionally, encouraging collaboration between these two vital areas of the business improves workplace culture across the entire organization.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) allows CEOs to focus on the job of running the entire business instead of getting bogged down with the management of individual departments and teams.

Effective outsourcing allows both large and small companies alike to lean on senior skillsets outside of the company to provide accurate information, offer impartial feedback, and inform strategic decision making.

In fact, according to a recent Intuit study, 65% of business owners surveyed said they would be “better positioned for long-term growth if they could take a step back and look at the bigger picture.” These business owners also reported that they were involved in areas of the company such as sales, marketing, customer service, human resources, and accounting, instead of outsourcing them. It is no coincidence that these activities were taking away from their ability to focus on their core business functions. When they were asked what they should be spending their time on instead, their top answers included developing business strategy, making an impact on customers directly, and innovating product/service offerings.

Business process outsourcing allows business owners and CEOs to utilize highly experienced professionals without needing to hire internally, both managing costs and improving business agility. Furthermore, outsourcing allows business leaders to reduce stress, lessening the likelihood of executive burnout.

When your business gets to the point where it needs to hire a CFO, what are your options?

• Full-time In-house
• Interim Outsourced, virtual or in-house
• Fractional Outsourced, virtual or in-house

These days a lot of organizations are looking to hire virtually, which makes “hiring a virtual CFO” a hot topic. Amidst all the remote work buzz it is easy to lose your focus and forget what you were trying to accomplish in the first place by outsourcing the role.

Like any other c-suite hiring process, hiring a CFO can be a daunting process at any organization. Whether the role is a newly opened position at a burgeoning startup, or a replacement for a long-standing CFO that is looking to retire, bringing in a CFO is a complex endeavor.

For companies that are accustomed to using recruiting services, the idea of using an executive placement agency to hire a key leadership role is a logical extension. However, businesses that typically handle hiring in-house may not see the benefit to using an executive search firm to hire a CFO. Some business owners may not even know that there are niche executive search agencies that specialize in finance roles.

However, using an executive search firm that focuses specifically on hiring key finance positions offers numerous benefits, which typically include:

We are now seven months into the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is clear we are far from returning to “normal”; however, that may be defined. What is clear is the pandemic pushed the concept of work-from-home (WFH) from being a motivational tool and employee benefit to a way of life. Work-from-home will undoubtedly remain an essential part of company operations well after the pandemic is under control. REI, Zillow, Twitter, Square, and other companies announced a plan to work remotely indefinitely.

Moving to a remote work environment in March with little or no notice was extraordinarily disruptive and often haphazard at best. We did what we needed to operate in the so-called “new normal.” By now, most of us have settled into a regular work cadence and adapted to working apart from the rest of our teams.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce and half of all “information workers” can work from home. Though the number of people working partially or fully remote has been on the rise for years now, the COVID-19 pandemic may have pressed the fast-forward button on this trend.

With millions of people taking part in this work-from-home experiment, now is the perfect time for companies to take a fresh look at their internal control environments, especially as they relate to their WFH team members. What once worked with everyone in the same place may not be effective with a distributed workforce.

A critical self-examination of your company’s internal control environment begins with an assessment of the segregation of duties.

What now? One thing is certain, most businesses have been impacted and their 2021 results will differ significantly from previous budgets and forecasts.

Now is the time for serious planning and strategizing. Business owners and CEOs should be considering what reopening looks like in all markets in which they operate. Will your business return to normal operations or will there be significant changes needed? Involve your key leadership team and advisors in these planning sessions.

The current economic uncertainty has many businesses closely evaluating their current and future staffing needs. While some positions are being cut, especially in the hospitality and travel sectors, many businesses are strategically hiring financial professionals into executive leadership positions during the downturn.

Companies that previously had tasked their CEOs with handling finance functions are now hiring dedicated CFOs (or outsourcing CFO roles to reputable third parties) to ensure they will be able to weather the new economic storm. With ambiguity over how long businesses will need to keep their offices and storefronts closed paired with unpredictability in the stock market, business owners and CEOs are feeling increased pressure to make critical strategic financial decisions for the health of their organizations.