Without a doubt, your Chief Financial Officer (CFO) plays an extremely important role in your organisation. As head of your Financial Department, your CFO wears many different hats, and they are directly responsible for overseeing all the numbers moving in, out and around your business. So, what happens when your CFO decides to move on? More importantly, where does that leave you and your company? If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where your CFO has decided to leave, or if you’re concerned about what would happen if they did, then you understand the stress that this can place on yourself, your business and your executive team.
Don’t you simply replace your Chief Financial Officer?
Of course, the natural reaction when your CFO does decide to move on is to simply hire another CFO. But, did you know that there is another option that may be more suitable for your organisation? To help open your mind to new possibilities for your business, let’s take a closer look at the actual role of a CFO in your business and explore the alternatives available to you to help manage your Financial Department more effectively.
Breaking down the role of the CFO
The term ‘Chief Financial Officer’ means something different to every business. For example, your CFO’s primary role may be focused on compliance, while for the organisation next door, their CFO’s responsibilities may be more in line with reviewing strategic opportunities. For someone else, it might be all about risk mitigation, financial modelling, pathways to listing or capital raising. The point we’re trying to make here is that the role of a CFO is extremely broad and can encompass several different kinds of responsibilities, depending on the individual organisation they’re in. Because of this, there are also several types of CFOs, each with varying responsibilities – and not all CFOs will be the right fit for your business. This means that you need to be quite clear on your organisation’s unique requirements when it comes to hiring a new CFO to ensure that you are getting value for what you are paying for. It’s also important to consider the unique relationship that the CEO, GM, Board and/or leadership team has with the CFO, as the personality fit is a critical factor to get right. As an example, some CFOs spend 90% of their week completing tasks that could be done by someone at a lower level, such as a Financial Controller, meaning they are being grossly overpaid for their duties and that organisation may not need a CFO in the first place.
So, if you don’t hire a replacement CFO, what’s the alternative?
Traditionally, most executives think in the same way: CFO out means new CFO in. But what if there was another way? What if you could always have the right CFO on hand with the right skill set to serve your organisation without ever having to concern yourself with the pain of recruitment or the fear of your CFO leaving you and your business short? Well, now you can!
Dexterous offers an innovative new solution to meet your business needs
At Dexterous, we believe in finding the right Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to match your organisation’s unique requirements every time through our Managed Finance Function service. Essentially, we operate as your complete internal finance team, so you always have the right people, the right skills and the right roles to support your ongoing success. How does this help replace a CFO? We sit down with you and your team to determine the exact responsibilities that you need the role to cover so that we can find the right fit from our extensive line-up of highly skilled Chief Financial Officers to best meet your needs. After scoping out the actual requirements of your business, you may even find that you just need a CFO for a day and a Financial Controller for the rest, saving you on salaries. Plus, with Dexterous, you’ll never have to worry about recruitment, absenteeism, performance issues, key person risk or succession planning for your CFO again – and you can have full confidence knowing that your CFO is always operating at the right level for your business. So, whether you’re looking for short-term, long-term or ongoing finance department support, Dexterous is ready to help you with our Financial Department as a Service solution. 
Rethink your resourcing with Dexterous Are you tired of recruiting and managing a new CFO every time they decide to move on from your finance team? Do you need more consistency, scalability and flexibility from the CFO role in your company? Why not try a more innovative approach to this age-old business problem?
Get an instant and reliable Chief Financial Officer that you can trust today
At Dexterous, we’re about identifying a solution that works for you and your business through a financial, operating and growth lens. This means that we leverage all the latest tools, access global talent and manage your finance department with the comprehensive expertise of our team. Reach out to us or connect with us via LinkedIn to get the right Chief Financial Officer for your organisation today.
