Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance discussing cash flow advantages hiring a flexible Chief Financial Officer these days
Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance talking about advantages for startups when hiring an interim CFO these days: Navigate an audit or transaction: As businesses grow, internal audits become necessary to get a measure of the company’s financial health. In many cases, audits may also be mandatory by law. An audit may involve a microscopic inspection of not just a company’s cash flow but also procurement and purchasing systems, taxation, and every transaction involving the exchange of money. Due to the complex and very minute nature of audits, founders – especially first-time entrepreneurs – may not have the experience to navigate their firm through it. Having a fractional CFO on board means the founders can delegate all responsibilities related to the audit to someone who is experienced in the domain.
Fractional CFOs can help companies: Develop detailed short-, mid-, and long-term financial forecasts; Prepare budgets based on forecasts; Analyze potential future products, services, markets, and customer segments. Helping Manage Growth: Fractional CFOs are also helpful in scaling a business, ensuring profitable growth as the business becomes more complex. This work involves reinventing the tools, processes, and vendor relationships the business uses to deliver value to an ever-growing and increasingly diverse set of customers. This is often called “bridging the chasm”, as most companies start to see declining margins and increasing headaches as they grow revenue past a certain threshold.
Smaller companies, incubators and startups could not match the salaries that the full time CFO commanded on the world financial stage. The seeds for the concept of an Interim or Fractional CFO were planted in the mind of Sam McQuade almost 3 decades ago when he first entered the world of International Finance as an Entrepreneur Consultant in Geneva Switzerland after achieving his MBA/MA at European University. During this tumultuous time at the turn of the century on the international financial scene, Mr. McQuade was ahead of his time. He offered as needed financial consultation services for international behemoths the Swiss based Nestle Corporation and the US based medical device corporation Stryker. The focus of his services, which would years later be foundational in the concepts of Panterra was a new model in product development, manufacturing and marketing. Find additional info on Sam McQuade.
The CFO function is evolving at lightspeed. With digital transformation and societal changes, the CFO role is rapidly turning into one of a “Chief Fiduciary Officer”, which is going beyond the traditional financials to look towards the future and lead long term value creation in a world of many unknown risks. Storytelling is a very powerful tool to engage and energize teams about value creation and potential pitfall areas. The traditional path of CFO usually starts with a solid foundation based on technical knowledge and then after about 15 years, the great leaders earn the coveted title.
The chief financial officer (CFOs) holds the top financial position in an organization. They are responsible for tracking cash flow and financial planning and analyzing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing strategic directions. CFOs are accountable to both the organization and various regulatory entities and authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in publicly held companies. They are well-versed in both generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and state and federal regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Forecasting: Importantly, CFOs don’t only report what is — a significant part of their value to an organization is their ability to accurately predict likely future outcomes. That includes financial forecasting and modeling based not only on the company’s past performance but on internal and external factors that may affect revenue and expenses. The CFO is tasked with making sense of the various departmental level forecasts to create profit projections for the CEO and shareholders.
Friends With Benefits is a decentralized social network. It allows users to connect with each other and share content. It allows the users to collaborate and create new content. Users may connect with individuals who share their interests in other cities through city-specific hubs. The more FWB tokens a user has, the more opportunities to meet and interact with others develop. This is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that uses the power of the blockchain to adjudicate disputes. Kleros is a DAO because it is powered by smart contracts. The Kleros token (PNK) is used to incentive jurors to vote on disputes. When someone wants to submit a dispute to Kleros, they first have to deposit some PNK. If the jury rules in favor of the person who submitted the dispute, then they get their PNK back. If the jury rules against them, then they lose their PNK. Kleros can be used to adjudicate any kind of dispute. It has been used to adjudicate disputes in online markets, freelance platforms, and even in the sharing economy.
Are you looking to expand your business overseas? Our experts are able to help you at any stage. We will first start by understanding your vision and global tax and cash strategy. Once aligned, we will help execute the financial, legal, compliance and talent solution activities to build your entity and team.
Understanding DAO: Now, suppose the same transaction happens on a decentralized network like the Bitcoin network. There is no central entity here. Both parties can interact with each other directly. The product is transferred from A to B, and $100 is transferred from B to A. This transaction is then recorded on a digital ledger which is available to everyone in the network. So there is complete transparency, and everyone knows that the transaction has taken place. This process of recording transactions on a digital ledger is what we call ‘blockchain technology.’ This is not limited to just financial transactions; it can be used to record any kind of transaction. Now that we know what blockchain is, let’s get back to DAO.
A full-time CFO may be a luxury few small businesses can justify. A feasible and recommended alternative to a full-time resource is a fractional CFO. This has the advantage of bringing a senior-level financial expert to the table but at a fraction the cost of a full-time resource. A fractional arrangement can work well indefinitely, and right up until a full-time CFO is needed. By basing key business decisions on relevant and accurate financial information, the business owner can avoid costly mistakes and reduce the risk of loss. Key decisions include those about financing the business, expansion or downsizing, whether to enter a new market or produce a new product; make or buy decisions and capital investments, to name a few.
Looking to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We offer solution CFOs for immediate very short term objectives and longer term engagements. Customizable with transparent pricing so you cover your business and don’t have to get into a potentially very bad and costly full time hire. The Fractional CFO and Interim CFO experiences gained by the executives assigned to these positions throughout Panterra Finance offers them a broad perspective of the dynamic changes in international markets. The part time CFO executives at Panterra Finance have access to worldwide teams that are proficient in and have initiated innovative strategies in projects centered on DeFi, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto, Tokenization, ICO, IDO, and STO services. Discover more info on https://issuu.com/samueledwinmcquade.