Financial insight and strategy is the most important skill for an entrepreneur or business leader to have. The finances are what keep us in business.
why you need a chief financial officer
You may have bookkeepers help track financials, or accountants for tax planning and preparation. Perhaps you have an in-house controller to manage accounting-related activities, reports and budgets. Few small businesses have a Chief Financial Officer, or CFO.
The CFO is responsible for the company’s current and future financial situation. Above and beyond a controller or accountant, a CFO uses reports and analysis to help monitor, assess and strategize key business initiatives and decisions. The CFO’s perspective is economic, which includes forecasting, scenario analysis, and cash and capital planning. They lead the other financial roles, help set policies and systems for the organization, and manage compliance.
In short, the CFO minimizes risk and maximizes return.
Like our coaches and consultants, a CFO is a trusted advisor who partners with a business’ leaders for strategy and growth. The Trajectify team has guided clients to bring in CFOs, or outsourced (“fractional”) CFOs, as a critical part of their scaling up. In every one of thoses cases, the owner or leader learned it was one of the most important things that they had done to grow their business.
Given that our coaches and consultants are often asked to help with the financial elements of planning and strategy, Trajectify has brought in an expert to specialize in this service. Like our other services, we now offer outsourced CFO at a fixed monthly rate based on complexity, the stage and the size of a business.
Our coaches work closly with the CFO, together providing guidance that is aligned across disciplines of our clients' businesses. When our coaches — who are all experienced business executives — have access to the financial insight, we are able to ask tougher questions, better track progress towards goals, and offer more specific advice.
Imagine how you’ll strategize and grow if you had hundreds of years of experience in your boardroom.
