CFOs Are Going Virtual And Here’s Why

What value does a CFO bring to your company? That’s a good discussion that could easily make it into a full article, however, for many companies especially SMEs this is not even relevant. Why? Because they can’t afford a CFO and therefore they make do with a Chief Accountant of at best a Head of Finance. It’s not to say that these roles couldn’t add value to a company but typically they’re focused on operational or tactical matters and completely miss out on providing strategic insight to the business owner or Managing Director. Also, they would be very focused on the accounting side of the numbers and have little business understanding. In this case a lot of value potential is lost in the company which a true CFO could have prevented. So, why are we even discussing this you ask? That’s because now there’s a new option on the table.

 “The Virtual CFO”

I have teamed up with David Boyar, owner of Australian based company Sequel CFO, to understand more about the role and how it can help business owners tap into a value potential that was previous off-limits for them. 

Virtual CFOs are more than “Business-Of-One Consultants”

Now, let's see what David had to say when I caught up with him on the topic of Virtual CFOs.

Value creation is the most important aspect of Finance

There’s no doubt about that value creation, just like it is in business in general, is the most important aspect of what Finance should be doing. Granted there’s also a compliance and controller role to fill and that’s why no company gets around having at least an accounting or bookkeeping function attached to the company. However, with virtual CFOs around every company can now tap into strategic and business insights from seasoned finance professionals who know how to advise and partner with business leaders and help them make the best possible decisions for their companies.

So, what’s your take on the Virtual CFO concept? Would you consider becoming one? Or have you experienced firsthand how much value a CFO actually brings to a company? Share your views in the comments below and David and I will be happy to engage with you.

I encourage you to take a tour of my old posts on finance transformation and not least “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box”. Finally, you should join the Finance Business Partner Forum where we will continue to discuss this topic.

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Anders Liu-Lindberg is the Head of Global Finance Program Management Office at Maerskand has more than 10 years of experience working with Finance at Maersk both in Denmark and abroad. My main goal at Maersk is to create a world class finance function not least when it comes to Business Partnering. I am the co-author of the book “Skab V?rdi Som Finansiel Forretningspartner” and a long-time Finance Blogger with now more than 17.000 followers.