The Role of the CFO

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Over time, the role of the CFO has evolved from transaction oversight to one of strategic importance. The CFO has become a true business advisor which both business owners and senior leaders rely on.

Typically, the CFO will model the owner and leader’s vision into a financial pro-forma to evaluate whether they can and will make the necessary investments (primarily financial and cultural) to achieve their goals.

Business owners need an in-house counselor, who is invested in the financial future of the company, to aid in decision making. The CFO provides resources needed to help make these decisions and “monetize” the company’s vision.

Resources the CFO provides:

Business Planning

  • Provide your business plan with financial rigor

Financial Projections

  • Create a bottom-up forecast and detailed budget with spending plans by department

Rolling Cash Forecasts

  • Enable you to respond, in real time, to emerging business conditions

Annual Operating Budgets

  • Help you keep track of maintenance operations, salaries, and interest payments

3 and 5 Year Plans

  • Forecast expenditures and revenue for three and five year periods
  • Create corresponding strategic goals

Monthly Management Reports

  • Create reports with previous and current financial data

Pricing

  • Build a financial model to set price

Managing Debt

  • Establish company budget and payment schedule to repay and keep debt low

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Advise on M&A initiatives
  • Complete business valuation

Equity and Debt Negotiations

  • Restructure your debt to improve liquidity

Liquidations

  • Ensure proper redistribution of your company’s assets and property

With the resources they provide, the CFO is vital to driving business improvement initiatives. Not only do they want to sustain your accounting function, they want to improve it. To learn more about how our CFO Services can help you and your accounting department reach the next level, contact us today!

Scam Alert: QuickBooks & Intuit Phishing Emails

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Recently there has been a rise in the number of phishing emails that appear to be sent by QuickBooks and Intuit. These messages state that the customer has a payment due on an open invoice. The balance due on the fake email is a higher amount than the typical cost of the software and any subscriptions offered by Intuit.

3 Common Methods for Phishing:

  • Spoofed Email Address – We have seen fake email addresses such as intuit@hmrsss.com and quickbooks@bostonsat.com.
  • Fake Link – Never click on a link in a suspicious email. These links may take you to a site that asks you to log in, providing hackers with your account information. Use your mouse and hover over the link to see if you can spot a hidden web address that is different than the one on the surface. An example of a message that would be included with a fake link:

       “This invoice notification is being delivered to you by Intuit Invoice Services on behalf of Veri Facts Inc. Click the link above to find an invoice.”

  • Forged Website – Fake websites may appear like real sites by using company logos and images. When visiting financial sites, enter the known address into the browser field manually.

Phishing was listed as one of the top tax scams of 2017 and continues to be an issue.

If you receive these emails – do not click any links! Forward the email to spoof@intuit.com immediately. For more information and to learn steps to protect yourself from a phishing attack, see the Intuit forum article here.

LBA Haynes Strand is dedicated to alerting the public on any scam or fraudulous attempt to steal identities or gain access to important financial information.  If you are interested in automatically receiving updates such as this, please subscribe to our blog.