CFOs are also among an organization’s key decision-makers, like any other C-level executives. As CFOs are an important part of the business organization, it is essential that the organization hand-pick the best candidates with elite competence.
Despite an organization’s willingness to have its hands on the best CFO, it is very challenging to find the right candidates. One of the most common hurdles faced by organizations when hiring the CFO is as follows:
- The difficulty for small organizations in hiring top-tier and experienced candidates.
- Large organizations have complications when hiring a CFO with an in-depth understanding of managing an organization with complex finances and high-stakes investment decisions.
- It is difficult for organizations to budget the hiring of top-level executives and meet the demanding compensation and salary.
- Another grueling challenge for the organization is finding the ideal candidates that befit their organizational needs.
There is no denying that hiring the right CFO is a challenge for any organization, and that is why we have brought you just the right guide that can ease and streamline your processes of hiring your next CFO.
CFO Profile Creation
One of the best ways your organization can find the ideal candidates for the position of CFO is by creating a profile with all the necessary things you want to look for in your upcoming CFO. When creating the CFO profile, here is what you need to consider.
- Company Size: One of the major determining factors of what sort of CFO should join your organization significantly depends on your organization’s size. If you run a start, this is especially in the growth phase, so you should hire a CFO with good experience with cash flow management, a strong network to seek capital and investment funding, and strong negotiation skills amidst mergers and acquisitions.
Whereas, if we are talking about hiring the CFO in a scale-up or established organization, those candidates prefer to have a strong risk assessment background, merger and acquisition experience, and favorable connections with banks and capital markets.
- Industry: The sector in which your business operates is also the key to determining what kind of CFO you should be looking for. As the industry varies, so do the background needs of the CFO candidates.
If your business is in the tech industry, you should plan to hire a CFO who is experienced in mergers and acquisitions in the tech industry. In-depth know-how in emerging fin-tech markets like cryptocurrencies is also vital.
If you run a manufacturing business, you should look for a CFO who has considerable experience in cost accounting, capital expenditure management, and a good understanding of international laws and regulations.
Businesses in the CG (Consumer Goods) or FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) sector should look for a CFO candidate with comprehensive and profound knowledge of supply chain management.
- Skills: There are a few must-haves of the CFO; these are listed below:
1. Analytical Skills
CFOs are among an organization’s top decision-makers. Henceforth, their analytical skills should be outstanding so that they can manage instability, make decisions that propel organizations’ growth, and seek lucrative investment opportunities.
2. Risk Assessment
CFOs are required to have excellent risk assessment skills so that they can help the organization avoid unforeseen shortcomings, mitigate or neutralize the effects of major failures, and navigate the business through a period of challenging crisis.
3. Communication
On a daily basis, CFOs are required to have several meetings. These could be with board members, major shareholders, other C-level executives (CEO, COO, CTO, and more), or within the department. For this reason, it is essentially important for the CFOs to have excellent communication and collaborative skills.
What Type of CFO Your Business Needs
Today, businesses have many options to choose the type of CFO they want for their organization. When hiring a CFO, here are the types that you should be aware of.
1. Full-timers
Full-time CFOs manage an organization’s entire financial division, which comprises the finance and accounting departments. They also provide key advice for board members and top management regarding investment opportunities. They manage cash flow and analyze financial risk.
2. Part-timers
The part-time CFO position already has several different names, such as interim CFO and contracted CFO. They are hired by organizations for short-term periods, and most of the time, part-time CFOs are hired to assist the full-time CFO in high-intensity operations, such as at the time of acquisitions and audits.
3. Fractional CFO
Fractional CFOs are much more like part-timers. However, Fractional CFOs are experts at providing consultancy and advice to clients; their involvement in the firm’s strategic decision is limited as they are hired on a short-term and contractual basis. Fractional CFO services have been becoming increasingly popular due to their cost-effectiveness and the ability of the organization to maintain utmost control and get C-level executive services at the same time.
Where To Find Your Upcoming CFO
There are several ways in which you can hire your upcoming CFO, the most common ones being as follows.
1. Job Posting and Interviews
Most companies post vacant CFO positions and roles on platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed. The benefit of hiring from platforms is that many applications can be received; hence, your organization has a vast talent and technical pool from which to choose your CFO.
When conducting the interview after the job posting, you can conduct several rounds of assessments with the relevant candidates to assess their skills and, lastly, end up with interviews.
2. Outsourcing the Hiring Processes
If you want to cut the hassle and avoid the time-consuming and tiring process of hiring the CFO, you could outsource the whole process to a third party, such as a recruitment agency. This will allow you to be at ease while the recruitment agency hires the CFO on your behalf. The benefit of outsourcing recruitment to recruitment agencies is that they have extensive networks and connections to search for the best CFO, considering your requirements and preferences.
Conclusion
Lastly, you must know that both the survival and success of your organization depend on correct financial decisions. Henceforth, having a competent person as the CFO is a prerequisite for your business’s long-term sustainability.
In this guide, we have provided you with all the relevant information that you need to kickstart your search for the CFO. Yet, if for any reason you are facing hurdles such as financial limitations or not enough time to allocate for CFO hiring, then our suggestion would be to acquire Fractional CFO services. If you are pondering where to get these services from, then our suggestion would be SMB Services.
SMB Services is a renowned agency that offers Fractional CFO services that are particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. The Fractional CFO services offered by SMB Services include budgeting and forecasting, risk management, accounting and bookkeeping, cash flow management, planning, and analytics. So, subscribe to their Fractional CFO services to have access to extensive services that are offered at affordable rates.
