Santa Clarita, CA, February 28, 2018—Sean Bryant, the partner in the Los Angeles NOW CFO office, met with Fred Arnold on the Santa Clarita Business and Real Estate Show to discuss what financial needs CEOs have when working with NOW CFO. Bryant has worked with NOW CFO for six years and has assisted all kinds of businesses in all kinds of industries, such as transportation, direct sales, and manufacturing. Having worked on a personal basis with numerous CEOs, Bryant has determined that there are six things CEOs most want and need.
Bryant and Arnold discussed six main items that NOW CFO can provide for CEOs and their businesses, including increasing visibility, creating scorecards, establishing an accounting foundation, demonstrating good accounting, aiding management, and creating checks and balances to avoid errors.
As Bryant states, CEOs like to better understand cash flow and get a better grasp on their budget. It can be helpful to see projections and understand a business’s growth patterns. It’s also important for them to know what good accounting looks like, for the sake of continuity and hiring.
Many of the problems that Bryant has identified in the businesses he works with revolve around under-hiring for accounting positions. New CEOs will hire close relatives or someone they know to save money and keep up with transactional accounting, but eventually their growth will require more accounting expertise than they have access to.
In particular, Bryant emphasized creating checks and balances. “Internal control is always important,” he stated, and that control happens through checks and balances that are there to protect the company and individuals. “We want to protect the business, the asset, right? But, yet, at the same time, we want to protect anybody from getting themselves—or having the temptation of—getting themselves in trouble.”
Much of the work NOW CFO does entails showing companies how to assemble a strong accounting department. Ensuring that a company has efficient clerical, AP/AR, and payroll, along with a competent controller meshed together is crucial for success.
To assist companies with their needs, NOW CFO offers many kinds of financial services. NOW CFO sets the stage for a more successful accounting and financial workforce by providing a CFO, a controller, and staff accounting for up-and-coming businesses.
Watch the full radio segment here.
