CFO - how to find the perfect CFO to make your company grow
CFO – how to find the perfect CFO to make your company grow
Finding a suitable and experienced CFO can make a great difference in your company’s future. See what to look for in a CFO and how Compass can help you find just the right one.
The right CFO can make your company grow
What is a CFO?
A CFO is short for Chief Financial Officer and is an executive who oversees a company’s financial activities and strategy. Typically a CFO is part of the executive board.
What is a CFO’s role in an organisation?
The CFO is typically responsible for financial planning, analysis, and reporting, as well as managing the organization’s financial risks and ensuring that it remains in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Often a CFO is the CEO’s right arm since making a profit is always a question of finances. A CFO’s daily activities include financial planning, risk analysis, capital management and reporting. Typically in bigger organizations a CFO leads a team of business analysts, controllers and maybe even treasurers. In smaller organizations a CFO might also act as part-time CFO and have some support units such as IT or HR report to them.
When do you need a CFO?
An organization typically needs a CFO when it reaches a certain size or level of complexity, and requires a dedicated executive to oversee its financial strategy and activities. Typically a CFO is hired when revenue is multiple millions of euros.
Some of the key signs that an organization may need a CFO include: growth, going public or the need for a turnaround.
Before hiring a CFO an organisation has typically already hired a controller or a business analyst. It is also possible to bring in an interim CFO for example 18 months prior to going public.
What type of a background does a CFO normally have?
A CFO is a role where education together with experience plays a big role. Look for master’s or bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or business administration. Many times CFO’s have gathered experience as controllers and business analysts before taking on the role of a CFO.
A good candidate also has a proven track record of leadership and management. Experience in the organization’s field or from a relevant other field does make landing into a new role easier.
How to find a great CFO?
There’s currently quite a lot of competition on the job market for experiences leaders. Typically leaders of this rank are found with the help of a headhunter. It is also the way many leaders are accustomed to change jobs and they rarely browse job ads, but rather wait to be contacted or they contact a headhunter themselves.
At Compass HRG we recruit on average a leader a day. What we’ve noticed is that successful recruits are the result of careful match making. A good headhunter can read the hiring organization and see what the organization needs. On the other hand a good headhunter knows what kind of a person is motivated to jump into any given organization.
Effective recruitment, especially for a critical function, can be crucial to a business' success
THE RIGHT MATCH DOES NOT COME BY ITSELF
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND NETWORKS
Compass Human Resources Group has existed since 1982. Today, we are an international organisation with offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
In addition, we have an office in the UK where we provide our international outlook and assist Nordic companies in the UK, Europe and other countries with their specialist and executive recruitment.
On average we recruit a leader per day. Our consultants have extensive understanding of the sensitive match making between a company and a leader.
We help you maximise your business performance through effective recruitment, headhunting and search. We have extensive insight and knowledge from 6 industries and in-depth knowledge of the modern labour market.
EXPERT RECRUITMENT IN THE FINANCIAL WORLD
Identifying Candidates at the Forefront of Innovation and Change
Our team of experienced recruitment consultants has a deep understanding of finance and the skills and experience required to succeed in this field. We stay current on the latest trends and developments, enabling us to identify candidates at the forefront of innovation and change in the finance industry.
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