What does a CFO Actually Do?

Often, we get asked by friends, family and peers: What does a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) actually do?  These are frequently people that have known us for years, that we dine with regularly, share holidays with, stand at the side of the footy pitch with! Yet, they don’t fully understand exactly how we have helped business owners to transform and scale their businesses. So, if the term “part-time CFO” is as alien to you as “UFO”, here’s what we do, in a nutshell:

Whilst a CFO is a qualified accountant, they also have decades of high-level commercial experience, quite often across many industries.

A CFO works alongside you as the business owner/CEO – giving you more time to work on the business instead of in it. The part-time CFO concept is tremendously cost effective as most CFOs pay for themselves with the cost savings they identify in your business.

 In a nutshell, a CFO will typically:

• Help you strategize, plan and operate your business to maximise on cash, profitability and company value
• Gain access to funding
• Ensure you have a solid banking relationship
• Become the custodian of your internal Finance function.
• Work with your bookkeeper or Finance Officer and/or external Accountant.
• Analyse results in the context of the company’s objectives and strategies.
• Establish clear KPIs (measures that really matter)
• Ensure you (the owner or CEO) understand the financials, the trends and the issues they identify
• Assist in growth, expansion (including overseas) and exit strategies
• Become a trusted sounding board and devil’s advocate

The need for a part-time CFO may appear earlier on your journey than you may expect.  For instance, you may have turnover of over $1million and are experiencing growing pains. Perhaps you would like to grow in a sustainable way, or improve the financial performance of your business. Either way, I would say it’s worth exploring how a CFO can help you in your business.

Our unique 12 box model gives a deep dive into each of the areas that a CFO will assist you with.

 The CFO Centre

The CFO Centre provides part-time CFOs to SMEs, so you get the experience of a high calibre CFO for a fraction of the cost of a full-time resource. We have years of experience as a Senior Finance Executive or CFO for large corporations. They have extensive knowledge and experience to bring to your business.  In addition, with no lock in contracts, we can work with the needs of your business, providing our services 1-2 days a week to as little as one day a month.

As a global company, we have over 850 CFOs in 18 countries, so we really have seen it all!  Therefore, the benefit for you is that no matter what your needs, however complicated, you can tap into that global wealth of knowledge at no extra cost. It’s pretty powerful stuff.

Our video on How it Works sums all of this up, or if you’d like more info you can get in touch with us here.