Sam McQuade discussing fractional CFO benefits for IT right now in 2024: 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. Read extra details on Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.
Keep Financial Tasks From Becoming Overwhelming: Financial tasks become overwhelming when you don’t have experience. Even budgets can quickly become a hassle when you struggle to stay on top of the numbers. That’s where a fractional CFO comes in. They can handle financial tasks such as budgeting and cash flow management to keep things running smoothly. With company internal controls in place, you can focus on other aspects of the business.
Do you want to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We offer CFOs for urgent short term projects and longer term engagements. Flexible with clear pricing so you cover your business and don’t have to rush into a potentially bad and expensive full time hire. In disrupting the traditional contracted title of CFO, Panterra Finance innovatively offers all its clients thought leadership based on international financial market experiences. Panterra Finance offers a unified international approach to businesses in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Eight centrally located offices in the USA, Switzerland, the Middle East, and the emerging African Continent, offers global enterprises Fractional and Interim CFO services backed by a team with a grasp of dynamic world trends.
Generally speaking, the CFO position is reserved for very experienced professionals with established track records in their field. CFOs are generally equipped with advanced educational designations, such as a Master of Finance or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Many CFOs have professional backgrounds in fields such as accounting, investment banking, or financial analysis. For financial professionals, the CFO is among the most prestigious and highly-paid positions available in a firm.
The key duties of the CFO position vary depending on the size of the organization, its industry and whether it’s a public or private company but generally fall into three broad functional areas: controller, treasury and strategy and forecasting. Organizations may have professionals overseeing some or all of these roles and reporting to the CFO. Controllers run day-to-day accounting and financial operations and often hold a CPA or MBA. They are responsible for creating reports that provide insights into a company’s financial standing, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory and payroll. Discover extra info at Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.
Before getting into how your business can benefit from a DAO, let’s take a look at some examples of real-life DAOs. Uniswap is a decentralized exchange built on the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to trade tokens without the need for a centralized exchange. The Uniswap team has created a smart contract that governs the exchange. The smart contract automatically matches buyers and sellers and executes the trades. Anyone with a UNI token can participate in the governance of the Uniswap exchange.
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.
A lot of our clients at Panterra Finance ask us about DAOs, what they are, and how they work. So we thought it would be helpful to write a blog post explaining them. Before getting into DAO, a brief few things about blockchain. A blockchain is a decentralized and distributed digital ledger that records transactions on many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network. Sounds complicated? Let’s take an example to understand this better. Suppose there are two people, A and B, who want to transact with each other. A wants to buy a product from B worth $100. In the old way of transacting, A would hand over the $100 to B, and B would hand over the product to A. This process is called ‘centralized’ because there is one central entity, in our case, a bank or PayPal, through which both parties have to go through to complete the transaction.
The CFO is responsible for effective and efficient financial operations including accounting, financial reporting, cash management, budgeting, maintaining controls and issues such as capital structure, investor relations, and financing. The CFO is also involved with strategic planning and financial analysis related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, as well as providing expert financial and operational guidance to business owners to maximize cash flow, minimize business risk, and increase the value of the enterprise.
Vision, Roadmaps and Business Plans are typically good collaboration processes, however alignment on meaningful strategy is driven by relationships and the CFO cannot over-communicate in this area. In an era of “greenwashing”, the CFO has a real opportunity to lead since success will ultimately be measured with scorecards and transparency. Sharing the Sustainable Story with financial support is the most credible way for stakeholders to see progress.
Developing the Interim and Fractional CFO Concept with Experience: From the inside looking out, Sam McQuade continued to sharpen his skills and nurture the ideas and mission of Panterra Finance. He spent time in the executive suites of Dell, as a Finance Manager and a Financial Planning and Analysis Manager where he achieved a 400% revenue growth in the Swiss market. Other stops in corporate suites, each of which shaped the final innovative services offered by Panterra Finance.
Fractional CFOs can help companies: Develop existing employees and hire new ones that bring essential knowledge and skills; Implement systems that will support sustainable growth; Improve visibility and analytical capabilities to convert large amounts of data into actionable information; Explore causes of revenue leakage, cost overruns, and operational friction in a growing business and develop potential solutions. A fractional CFO is also often brought into an organization to help achieve a particular goal, such as raising capital or preparing for a sale, merger, or acquisition. Most fractional CFOs have helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and equity funding for multiple companies, and have helped oversee a number of mergers and acquisitions.
