Speakers: David King, CEO, Eastern Australia & NZ, The CFO Centre
What is a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and how can they help my business?
David King: Hi, if you've ever wondered what a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) actually does or how they might be able to benefit your business now in the future, then this video might be of some assistance.
David King: again, this video could be of benefit. Today, I'm going to talk to you about the four hats that a CFO typically wears, whether as an in-house CFO for larger businesses, or CFOs like myself and our global team who are delivering CFO level support to SMEs on an as-needed or part time basis.
The Strategist
David King: The first hat is that of the Strategist, where a CFO will take the time to understand your personal drivers, your personal goals as the owner, to understand what the business needs to look like to deliver on those. With that knowledge, a CFO will assist you in formulating a strategy for the business or update a current strategy to ensure that it is linked back to those goals. Most importantly, a CFO will help implement that strategy so it becomes a reality, not a document that gathers dust on the shelf. As a valuable pair of hands. they can keep people accountable to the plan whilst executing some of the milestones to take some of the responsibilities off your shoulders as the owner. Also in terms of a strategist, the CFO importantly, will look at funding in terms of where the business is going and what funding it needs to actually make sure that the business is not going to run out of cash. Making sure the funding mix and the levels are appropriate for the business now, and where it wants to go.
The Leader
David King: Another hat that a CFO will wear is that of Leader.
David King: What I mean by that is they will complement you in the leadership capacity. Support you, be your confidant and sounding board whilst looking beyond the numbers. The data tells a certain story, but it's then applying our commercial experience and our strategic oversight in conjunction with you and the other major stakeholders to ensure that sound decisions are being made. We will act as a catalyst to make sure things actually happen, whether that's at the strategic level or the day to day operational level.
The Operator
David King: A further hat that a CFO wears is that of the Operator whereby they strive to free up your time by taking ownership for the finance function and quite often other back office functions so you can spend time on the things that you really should be. In terms of the finance function it's having oversight for things like cash flow and working capital levels. It's ensuring that the finance function is producing the type of reporting that they can then interpret and relay back to you in a way that you can readily understand and make decisions from.
David King: Looking at things like account receivable, accounts payable and inventory. It's looking at profitability, by job, project or service line. Looking at overheads and where we can trim costs. It is really about building the foundations from which we can execute the strategy and allowing you to get on with the things that are going to help the business get there faster.
The Guardian
David King: The 4th and final hat of the CFO is that of the Guardian, somebody who's got your back that you can trust, somebody who's going to help guide informed decision making.
David King: The CFO will provide you and the management team with visibility over the whole business with effective timely reporting with both forward looking and historical information. A CFO today is not just a luxury for the big end of town for larger corporations. It's also a necessity for small and medium sized businesses, especially those that are ambitious, that want to grow, that might have fallen on hard times or the owner just wants somebody in their camp that they can trust. The part time or as needed model as provided by the CFO Center is a very cost effective way for an SME to access a truly experienced CFO at the fraction of the cost of a full time resource. If you'd like to know more about that, then please jump on our website at www.cfocentre.com.au
