The agile CFO keeps corporate action on their radar

We have recently prepared our monthly media article and this month we focus on how a CFO is a key contributor to introducing agility into the organisation by delivering data-driven insights for decision-making.  

In the article, we look at an example of a business in the solar industry in the run-up to the 2024 national elections and the decisions a leadership team might make.  

• In April 2024 when Eskom announces 21 days of loadshedding, was this a warning sign to the leadership team?  

• In May 2024 when we hit 58 days, and the CEO says everything will go back to normal post the elections when loadshedding returns  

• In August 2024 with over 120 days of no loadshedding, is the business being forced into drastic changes? 
  

A high-quality CFO isn’t simply accepting the narrative that “everything will be ok” – they will be looking at various factors including:

• Productivity of teams – are we overstaffed?  

• Are our marketing campaigns working?  

• What are the most favourable supplier terms we can get?  

• Is the quality of our rental book declining?  

• What if we end up going for another 2 months like this?
  

The CFO will often be perceived as the “bad guy/woman” or “handbrake” as they will be the ones advocating for cost controls earlier than growth-focused entrepreneurs.  No CEO wants to be the person who must let people go, cut back on incentives or scale back growth plans.  

One of the ways that a CFO can mitigate this tension is to keep their eyes and ears open for potential corporate action or transactions. They are often in an ideal position to identify potential deals as they see both the big drivers of income and expenses.  

If there is a slow-down in the market, can you grab market-share by acquiring a weaker competitor?  

Could you generate a superior yield by acquiring a major supplier and giving yourself greater control over your value chain?  

An agile CFO is one who can assess the operating conditions, pull on the internal levers but also utilise their networks to assess and identify opportunities like this.  

We believe this is a key value-add when looking at the “Fractional CFO” model and we believe this introduces agility into the organisations we work with.  

If you would like to discuss further – let’s connect on LinkedIn.  

Rowan de Klerk is the founder and CEO of The CFO Centre South Africa which is part of a Global Financial Leadership Practice. Since its establishment in 2010, the company has grown to become the market leader for outsourced CFOs and Financial Manager Services in South Africa and globally, represented in 18 countries.

Rowan is a seasoned CEO and CFO with a strong commercial and strategic background. With over 35 years of experience working with both large corporations and mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, he is a results-driven intuitive business leader with a passion for building and scaling businesses.