Here is a picture I drew to expand on my point:

The orange part represents the most basic responsibilities of the CFO. The CFO needs to be on top of every aspect of Finance, Accounting, and Control. If not, their focus should not waver from these areas.

The four blue boxes in the corners represent the other major components of administering a small business. It’s often that the CFO inherits these, especially if the company has resource constraints. They are:

• HR (Human Resources and Payroll)
• Legal
• Information Technology
• Risk Management (the complete insurance estate, including benefits)

It’s usually just by default that these fall into the lap of the “numbers person.” It’s all back office stuff that is usually outsourced, so who better to handle it than the person who is in the back office the most; the CFO.

Here is the point: it’s important to understand the burdens on the CFO before expanding their role into the green areas - sales and operations management, strategic planning, and new product development. The CFO will appreciate being involved for sure, but they can’t really be effective players until all of the orange and blue areas are completely under control, which are often huge burdens in their own right.

This will be an ongoing conversation. The management of this dynamic is a big part of where I want my business to go.

Let’s start with a book called Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.

This is straightforward treatise on management by a CEO (Bossidy) and a consultant/academic (Charan). Read my take on it by clicking here, but print the cheat sheet below first.

I hope to have it up and running in July sometime, so please stop back.