Benefits for startups hiring an interim CFO by Sam McQuade: Key advantages of hiring a fractional CFO: Cost! Unlike traditional businesses, startups need to remain conscious about paying only for what they absolutely cannot live without. Everything else is either in-house or done without. Fractional CFOs are the next step in this evolution of the scrappy, bare-knuckle startup. Think of a fractional CFO as a CFO on-demand. Your startup benefits from all the expertise of an experienced CFO when it is needed the most, without the additional cost of having an extra C-suite colleague on your payroll.

A fractional CFO helps determine how to get you from where you are to where you want to go. Growing a business requires strategic use of capital. For many fractional CFOs, one of their most important contributions will be providing a financial forecast that will act as a blueprint to achieve the growth in the most efficient, accelerated, and sustainable way possible. With a short-term (next 90 days), mid-term (rest of this year), and long-term (next 3-5 years) view of the business, a company can better anticipate its trajectory and cash position or requirements. It can make it easier to manage through the lean times, help determine when and how to secure loans or investments, anticipate future owner compensation, and help plan and prioritize future business decisions such as staffing, production, geographical expansion, etc.

While surveying the landscape of the 21st Century economic climate, Sam McQuade, CFO, CEO and Financial maverick realized that the benefits of the gig economy and off-site personnel had hit the preverbally glass ceiling at the executive floor. Large established companies, corporations and organizations were captive of contracted executives. These executives could be effective and efficient however they could also be playing the game of international finance with obsolete rules, models, and ideas. Read extra info at Sam McQuade.

Vision, Roadmaps and Business Plans are typically good collaboration processes, however alignment on meaningful strategy is driven by relationships and the CFO cannot over-communicate in this area. In an era of “greenwashing”, the CFO has a real opportunity to lead since success will ultimately be measured with scorecards and transparency. Sharing the Sustainable Story with financial support is the most credible way for stakeholders to see progress.

CFOs are the most senior financial officers in an organization. They report directly to the CEO and work closely with the board of directors. While the CEO occupies a higher-level position from an org-chart standpoint, in high-functioning companies, the CFO and CEO work closely and collaboratively, with CFOs serving as sounding boards, strategists and risk mitigators. A financial controller is a CPA (certified public accountant) and often holds an MBA. Financial controllers are responsible for preparing financial reports and analyzing financial data. The financial controller is generally in charge of the accounting function in an organization and reports to the CFO. A controller may be part of a team that includes bookkeepers, accounts receivable/payable clerks, payroll specialists, tax preparers and accountants.

Financial reports including balance sheets and P&L and cash flow statements help both internal leaders and external stakeholders understand the financial state of the business, and it’s up to the CFO to attest that these statements are accurate and complete in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Although private companies are required to file financial reports with the SEC only if they have $10 million or more in assets and 500 or more shareholders, many businesses create these statements anyway so they’re available should the company seek a bank loan or venture capital or equity funding.

Another purpose of a DAO is to automate decision-making. In a traditional organization, decisions are made by a small group of people. This can often lead to delays in decision-making. With a DAO, decisions are made by the code that governs the organization. This makes it much faster and easier to make decisions. In business environments, it frees up space for people to focus on other things. It has opened up opportunities for more decision-makers to get involved in the governance of a DAO. The most notable example is the MakerDAO, which is a decentralized autonomous organization that governs the Dai stablecoin. The MakerDAO has a voting system that allows anyone to participate in the governance of the organization.

Selling your business or looking to buy others? Our experts can lead the deal and make sure that you have a thoughtful ownership transition. We are happy to provide second opinions on valuations as well so you have another perspective and feel better before your close the deal.

A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that is run by smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It is an organization or company that is not centrally controlled by any one person or entity. Rather, it is governed by code that is written into the smart contracts. This code can be modified or updated by anyone who has access to the DAO’s GitHub repository. To put this into perspective, imagine a traditional company or organization. There is usually a board of directors or executive team that makes all the decisions about how the company will be run. With a DAO, there is no such thing. The code that governs the DAO is open source and available for anyone to view and audit. In this new scenario, an organization can be run by anyone in the world who has an internet connection.

Many small and mid-sized organizations employ a bookkeeper or controller who maintains the financial system and records transactions in an accurate and timely manner. The CPA produces the tax returns and some basic performance analysis quarterly and at year-end. However, this leaves a significant gap in terms of the information and management reporting available. Business owners and entrepreneurs may lack the critical financial information needed for informed decision making; and for external purposes such as presentations to lenders or investors.

Searching to hire your very first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We provide CFOs for urgent short term projects and longer term engagements. Flexible with fair pricing so you cover your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad solution and expensive full time hire. Sam McQuade CFO has successfully scaled his decades old ideas into an innovative full-service Financial Partner Solution for incubators, startups, emerging business concepts as well as well-established international companies, corporations and organizations with the introduction of Panterra Finance. The Panterra Finance professional executive team members are equipped to provide an industry leading concept of an on demand Fractional CFO and Interim CFO during pivotal transitions. Discover more details at Sam McQuade CFO.