Interim-CFOs

Practical Use Cases

Most In-Demand Services of Interim-CFOs

Risk Strategy

Identify the risks the company is willing to take and actively manage mitigation strategies.

Cash Management

Balance the cash flow within your organization and monitor cash intensive business units

Financial Reporting

Get frequent updates regarding the financial performance of your business' operations

Debt and Equity Financing

Determine the best financing structure based on current capital market conditions.

Increase Shareholder Value

Analyze shareholder returns and develop strategies to optimize performance.

Finance Leadership

Establish best-in-class systems and processes to get to the next level of finance

What Do Interim-CFOs Do?

Filling the Financial Leadership Gap

When a CFO leaves an organization, that role must be filled until a permanent replacement is hired. This is where the interim CFO comes in. Interim CFOs are experienced CFOs who usually spend six to twelve months in the organization to work closely with the CEO to oversee all financial activities, such as budgeting, forecasting, or financial planning. At the same time, he provides guidance on improving the finances of the organization, optimizing the company’s financial performance, and improving both the cash flow and reporting standards.

Supporting Financial Restructuring and M&A

An Interim CFO can also play a pivotal role in large-scale restructuring or transformation projects. In addition to supporting mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, the Interim CFO provides strategic guidance on evaluating potential deals, performing due diligence, and ensuring seamless integration of financial systems post-merger. Furthermore, they assist in developing and presenting detailed financial plans to investors, ensuring transparency and confidence in the company’s future direction.

Driving Operational Improvements

By analyzing the company’s current financial processes, they identify inefficiencies and recommend cost-saving initiatives. These improvements can range from optimizing working capital to enhancing the company’s budgeting and forecasting systems. The Interim CFO ensures that the organization is operating efficiently and effectively while maintaining alignment with its financial goals, thereby improving overall business performance.

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FAQs

What makes Interim-CFOs different?

Consultport takes pride in the detailed screening process that enables us to match you with candidates of the highest caliber. Our expert pool is chosen based on experience, personal interviews, and references. What does this mean for you? Handpicked consultants with thorough know-how for your needs.

Is hiring Interim-CFOs through Consultport in less than 48 hours possible?

In most cases, we can propose a potential candidate within a few working days. It depends on the complexity of the request and the time availability of the consultants. We are always committed to providing you with suitable candidates as fast as possible.

What does the “no-risk, pay only if satisfied” mean when I search for Interim-CFOs?

We are always fully committed to providing you with the highest service. Therefore, when you need Interim-CFOs, we offer you the request, search, and proposal stages completely free of charge. Every consultant has a different rate, which we communicate to you, with no strings attached.

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Why Hire Interim-CFOs?

Let’s dive into the advantages of hiring Interim-CFOs through Consultport.

Interim CFOs bring extensive industry experience, providing valuable insights and solutions. They quickly adapt to new environments and deliver immediate impact, often within days. Their ability to handle critical assignments efficiently makes them a highly effective short-term solution.

The most common reasons for bringing in an interim CFO are the following:

Bridging Resource Gaps

Interim CFOs are often brought in when an organization has not yet found the right candidate for a permanent CFO and need to bridge a resource gap. This can often happen when a change in ownership or acquisition has taken place, accompanied by a change in senior management. When an organization has not yet found the right candidate for a permanent CFO, an interim CFO is a great choice to keep the financial ship on course, prevent a backlog of projects, and provide a fresh set of eyes on the state of an organization’s finances and on the roles and responsibilities of the CFO position.

Preparing for Strategic Events

Interim CFOs are also often brought in to help companies prepare for strategic events such as acquisition, mergers, or IPOs. This type of event creates a need for a highly skilled financial person to help navigate the process, as well as to ensure that the company’s financials and business operations meet the due diligence and compliance requirements of investors and other stakeholders.

Improving Operations

Interim CFOs are also often brought in when organizations simply need to bring the financial organization and processes to the next level. Interim CFOs provide fresh perspectives and expertise to upgrade accounting and reporting systems, implement new control mechanisms — such as a new vendor approval process — and develop comprehensive reporting and budgeting tools. They can also help to negotiate with lenders to ensure that a line of credit can remain in place.

Tips on How to Hire Interim-CFOs

If it is already clear to you that hiring an interim CFO is your necessary next step, then you will ask yourself: How can businesses identify the right person for the role?

As with any recruitment, especially at the senior level, it is crucial to find the right person. The interim CFO must be eager and able to fulfill the vision of the company's leader.

It is relevant to carefully consider the essential elements that an interim CFO should possess to be the right candidate for your company. Thus, it could be useful to look for someone who has already gained project experience comparable to your industry, your company, or your company’s situation. The following tips can help you to find the right candidate:

Financial expertise: Ensure that the candidate is willing and qualified to handle not only strategic issues, but can also go deep into tedious accounting and legal work. One example you could use for your evaluation is whether the candidates are paying enough attention to your company’s liabilities (e.g., legal contracts).

Technical expertise: Involve your tax or audit department in the interview process, and let the candidates talk to them. They will ask the right questions to prove that the candidate has the necessary expertise you require. Examples of this could be a good knowledge of GAAP or IFRS requirements.

Operational experience: Ask for relevant examples of recent process improvements that have saved companies time and money without requiring a major investment. Examples could be the automation of processes in the finance department or the outsourcing of processes to shared service centers.

In addition to these hard skills, don't forget the soft skills. Is the interim CFO able to focus on his key issues and to connect with the finance team and the rest of the organization? Facets to validate should include:

Prioritization and Focus: Interim CFOs have to cope with several tasks at the same time, ranging from an overall assessment of the company's situation to the correct alignment of the financial strategy. Since time and relevant resources are often scarce, the right priorities must be set to solve the acute problems. Ask the interim CFO how they prioritize responsibilities when they are short on time. A red flag could be, for example, if they are not strict with important deadlines.

Building relationships at all levels: Interim CFOs should be able to interact and connect with a variety of different stakeholders on all levels. Ask them how they build relationships in a new organization and how they create connections with others. Negligence in this area could be a red flag for an inability to drive change.

If you have finally found the ideal candidate, you have to ensure a thorough onboarding. The following suggestions can help to get your interim CFO successfully on board.

Communicating the scope of the involvement: Hiring an interim CFO can lead to a certain amount of discomfort among employees, who may wonder about the reason for the deployment. Regardless of the extent to which you can provide transparency, inform your team as to why the interim CFO is intervening with the company to help decrease any concerns.

Define milestones together: A hired interim CFO will often have his or her own individual approach to the first weeks of the engagement. If not, define the first milestones together to ensure that you start with similar expectations regarding anticipated results and the underlying schedule.

Provide sufficient resources: The onboarding process of a hired interim CFO should involve meetings with key employees to gain a broader overview of the company and to familiarize him with decision-makers. Additionally, you have to provide access to financial systems and corporate documentation.

Conclusion

The importance and impact of interim positions can be overlooked due to their limited time with your organization. However, it is critical to find the right interim CFO for your situation. The right one will help you to navigate through all critical financial aspects and to lay the groundwork for the full-time CFO to come. Trust us, the best ones will leave a positive impact long after they’ve moved on.

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