What are the advantages for IT startups to hire a fractional CFO with Sam McQuade CFO today
Excellent advantages when hiring flexible CFO with Sam McQuade: Periods of Restructuring: Restructuring a company requires in-depth knowledge of processes (see above), an ability to assess how to optimize capital structure, and an understanding of cost optimization and cash flows. During a restructuring, CFOs must detach from the established norms of the business and help reorganize activities and finances toward the new vision. Filling a Leadership Vacuum: It is common during leveraged buyout (LBO) processes to change the companies’ management structure. A CFO may resign during these times, or investors may look to start a clean slate and appoint their chosen figurehead. Such events may result in a period of flux between appointments. It may be necessary to have an interim figure to keep the business on an even keel and start implementing new strategies. The hiring process for a critical position like a CFO can take up to a year. Plugging an experienced fractional CFO into the role can be done relatively swiftly and provides invaluable flexibility and optionality for business owners.
?Is A Fractional CFO Worth It? Startups can get overwhelmed with managing their finances on top of other responsibilities. Accurate, real-time financial data and strategic financial insights can mean the difference between make-or-break decisions. But, an in-house finance team with a CFO comes with a price tag of hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries and benefits. A fractional CFO for startups provides the insight, expertise, and resources needed to keep your finances in order without needing a full-time team or a significant financial commitment. With their full range of services, you can rest assured that your finances are in capable hands. Find even more details on Sam McQuade CFO.
Searching to hire your very first CFO or need interim coverage? We provide CFOs for immediate very short term projects and longer term engagements. Customizable with clear pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad solution and expensive full time hire. Sam McQuade CFO has successfully scaled his decades old ideas into an innovative full-service Financial Partner Solution for incubators, startups, emerging business concepts as well as well-established international companies, corporations and organizations with the introduction of Panterra Finance. The Panterra Finance professional executive team members are equipped to provide an industry leading concept of an on demand Fractional CFO and Interim CFO during pivotal transitions.
What Is a Chief Financial Officer (CFO)? The term chief financial officer (CFO) refers to a senior executive responsible for managing the financial actions of a company. The CFO’s duties include tracking cash flow and financial planning as well as analyzing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing corrective actions. The role of a CFO is similar to a treasurer or controller because they are responsible for managing the finance and accounting divisions and for ensuring that the company’s financial reports are accurate and completed in a timely manner.
Strategy and forecasting involves using available data and reports, both internal and external, to advise on areas including product development, market expansion, human capital management, M&A and capital investments. It’s also where structured planning and forecasting exercises, like scenario planning and FP&A, fall. Controllers, treasurers and FP&A analysts are invaluable members of the team, but in all these areas, the buck stops at the CFO’s desk.
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.
As independent internal auditors, we compile in-depth audit reports that convey insights on both known and unknown risks and vulnerabilities in order to protect your business. We hold a niche in capital project auditing and in assisting start-ups with outsourced Internal Audit services.
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 CFO can improve the decision-making process by bringing facts, solid numbers, and asking the right questions. Another benefit to the business owner is the fresh perspective and insights brought by the CFO. This can have the added effect of making life a little less lonely for the entrepreneur. The CFO can be a sounding board and trusted advisor for new ideas and initiatives. Stakeholders such as investors, lenders and creditors react positively to the knowledge that a professional CFO has been retained. This takes on an added degree of importance when looking for outside investment, debt financing or positioning the company for sale.
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.
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. See even more details on Sam McQuade.
A fractional CFO helps determine how to get you from where you are to where you want to go. Growing a business requires strategic use of capital. For many fractional CFOs, one of their most important contributions will be providing a financial forecast that will act as a blueprint to achieve the growth in the most efficient, accelerated, and sustainable way possible. With a short-term (next 90 days), mid-term (rest of this year), and long-term (next 3-5 years) view of the business, a company can better anticipate its trajectory and cash position or requirements. It can make it easier to manage through the lean times, help determine when and how to secure loans or investments, anticipate future owner compensation, and help plan and prioritize future business decisions such as staffing, production, geographical expansion, etc.