Benefits for startups hiring a fractional Chief Financial Officer by Sam McQuade CFO

Quality cash flow advantages hiring a flexible CFO with Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance: A fractional CFO brings in a wealth of experience across different domains without burdening a startup with exorbitant costs. In fact, hiring a fractional CFO is perhaps the only way a young startup can get access to best-in-the-business expertise without having to pay through the nose for it. Like all great business models, it’s an arrangement that suits both sides. Of course, once startups scale beyond a certain size, they may come to realize that having a full-time CFO makes better business sense. For those who are still finding their feet, though, there was never a better time to think about hiring a fractional CFO.

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.

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. Read additional details at https://www.linkedin.com/company/37029325.

With technological advances disrupting job descriptions, the organization will have its share of fear and resistance. Given the close collaboration between finance and information technology, the CFO is in a unique position to anticipate the future needs of organization and help mentor people with their reskilling into other growth areas. What else do you think CFOs can be doing now to adapt to the future? I’d be very grateful if you provide your comments and share your thoughts. Thank you!

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.

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.

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.

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.

By utilizing a fractional CFO, support levels can be varied and customized to the evolving needs of the organization with the CFO’s work schedule tailored as such. Increased support can be provided at critical times reverting to a more consistent level when appropriate. A fractional CFO can bring substantially all the benefits in terms of skills and knowledge of a full- time resource, at significantly less cost. Services are provided on-site which is convenient for meetings and to perform critical work. The CFO becomes embedded and acts as part of the management team. When not on-site, the CFO can be ‘virtually’ available via modern communication tools.

Looking to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We provide CFOs for urgent very short term projects and longer term engagements. Adaptable with clear pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to rush 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. Discover more info at Sam McQuade.