I got a fun phone call this week. A contact I’ve been working with for a few years now called me and wanted to see if his client would be a good fit for working with my firm. He’s a super talented SEO Specialist, Google Partner, Web Developer, and master rain-maker. We’ve helped each other’s clients for a while and this call just goes to show how much trust transfers.

“Hey Matt. Got a minute?” The gravelly voice came through the speaker phone while I was driving to get breakfast. Sounded like he had been working all night. He’s a hustler and doesn’t know how to shut off the flow state. It happens. 

“Yeah. What’s going on?” I never quite know what to expect from our calls. Sometimes, we’ll chat about the latest trends in SEO services he’s rolling out. Other times, I’ll detail the latest CFO client I have that wants to scale his business. It’s fun to build business with like-minded people who are uber talented at their craft.

“So. You know I have a lot of clients.” He always likes to remind me of how many clients he and his team of over 50 employees have. It’s a fun little poke that we both do. He went on, “I was asked last week if I knew anyone that can help get my client a loan for his business and I immediately thought of you. I remember when you published the article about how to become more attractive to lenders. Well, this client really needs some help. His CFO quit to go work for a startup in Austin and it’s really putting him in a pinch.” I hate it when CFO’s jump ship. Sometimes they get bored. Sometimes, there’s a deeper reason; often, they don’t like the way they’re being treated.

“Oh man. I’m sorry to hear that. No notice on the resignation I suppose?” I kinda figured the CFO wouldn’t have given the owner any notice, but I thought I’d ask anyway. When you’re the one responsible for the money, and you give notice, usually your gone within the hour; can’t risk the money getting messed up.

Related Article: 10 Commandments of Cash Flow Management

“He didn’t. Quite through a text. He’s a real piece of work.” He coughed through the phone and I thought maybe he blew one of my speakers. He continued, “Here’s the backstory. The client runs a high-end Airbnb business and needs help refinancing some of his properties along with managing all the cashflow of the day to day operations.” 

“Refinancing properties and managing cash flow is part of what my team and I can do to help. We are, after all, the outsourced CFO team for companies that don’t have a full time CFO. Maybe, I need to add a little to the tag line. I can make it ‘The Outsourced CFO team for companies whose CFO just quit.” I had to mute the mic after I said this so he couldn’t hear me laugh at my own joke.

“Yeah. Maybe.” He said. “But do you think you can help him out?” I could tell this client he was referring to was, as most are, near and dear to his heart.

“I could probably help. But. Curious. What exactly constitutes a ‘high-end Airbnb business?” I was legitimately curious. I wanted to know what he thought made a high-end Airbnb business as compared to some other Airbnb businesses I’ve worked with in the past.

“Well. His properties are pretty insane. He has over 2 dozen properties. They run around twenty grand a week and his occupancy rate is over 70% all year.” Whoa!

I had to stop him. That a lot of money! “Wait.” I took a second to gather my thoughts. “Did you say twenty grand a week? As in total, like from all his properties?”

“No. Twenty grand a week from each property.”

“Who rents a house for twenty grand a week? What kind of houses are these?” I had to know some more details. If I’m going to be able to help get the properties financed, this is a very important detail.

“He rents them out to foreign ministers, heads of state, royalty from abroad, movie stars who want to keep a low profile, and the real wealthy people who you’ve probably never heard of. Anyway, he’s been a client for over 5 years and I know it’s kinda last minute, but can you help him?” He sounded stressed. This must have been eating at him for a while now. 

Related Article: Leading Your Business Through Stormy Waters

I tried to be as nonchalant as I could be. This could be a MASSIVE undertaking and I didn’t want to overpromise without knowing more. I did agree to a call with the client and that’s scheduled for next week. 

This conversation made me think about what exactly are the main responsibilities of a CFO. I think of being a CFO for companies, on a fractional basis, as a massive responsibility. If I mess up a forecast, the timing of a loan, miss a payment, forget payroll, or don’t have a dashboard with KPIs, then I’ve let down my clients. This particular client could be great for my team and I to support, but I can’t leave my other 30 plus clients in the dust. I know that if I take on this client, then I’ll very likely need to hire some additional team members to help with the workload.

I wrote about scaling businesses through hiring in my business book, Taboo Business Questions. I never thought I’d need to grab a copy off the shelf and read the chapter again, but I did. 

Hiring an outsourced CFO is a delicate hire. I’ve been interviewed by over a hundred different companies who have considered using my firm as their CFO. Typically, the interview gets to the heart of the issue: What are the main responsibilities of a CFO. Here are the 4 main responsibilities of a CFO:

1. A CFO needs to be future focused – While an accountant typically is focused on accounting for what’s already happened, a CFO needs to be constantly thinking about what will happen; When will the company be out of debt; When will the company need to go into debt and why; When will the company need to hire and how will that affect other business objectives; When will the company need to replace equipment and how will they pay for it. These are all considerations of a talented CFO.
2. A CFO dives into business process improvement – More than just conceptually, a CFO needs to be dialed into each business process as it relates to finance; How will hiring a sales team impact cash flow; How will updating the website’s information flow impact how the orders are processed; How will each team member’s job be affected should someone quit; How will a new piece of software be implemented and reduce redundancies in the organization. The CFO needs to be able to quickly and thoroughly understand each business process so as to always be improving the organization’s efficiency.
3. A CFO defines and delivers business results – A CFO for publicly traded companies spends time crafting a publicly available report called a 10-K. A 10-K is a report that is filed with the SEC and tells investors exactly how the business is functioning and what upcoming initiatives are set. When I’m working with clients, I help them identify the KPIs in their own business so they can measure how efficient they are, how they’re growing, and if they aren’t, exactly where the issues lie. It’s the small business way of thinking about their business like publicly traded companies do.
4. A CFO is always ultimately responsible for business continuity – Business continuity is a business term that means the successful ongoing function of a business. The CFO, as the main driver of financial oversight, needs to always have this in the back of their mind. When my team and I work with small business clients, we often challenge business decisions through the lens of “how will taking on this initiative impact the short term and long term success of the company.” 

If you know someone building a business but they’re spending too much time managing the finances, I’d love an introduction. 

If you know someone who isn’t happy with the attention they’re getting from their accountant, I’d love an introduction.