Category: Finance

What are the advantages for Tech startups to hire a fractional CFO with Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance: Ability To Scale Finances Easily: As your business grows, you need someone to help keep up with the changing financial landscape. Growth means more transactions, additional expenses to keep up with production scaling, and more. A fractional CFO can provide the financial knowledge and expertise you need to scale your finances to fit the growth of your business. With strategic planning and financial analysis, you can ensure your business stays in the black as you scale up. Find additional information at https://www.reddit.com/user/samueledwinmcquade.

One notable trend we have identified in finance projects is the increasing popularity of fractional CFOs. A fractional CFO is an experienced finance professional (usually with at least three previous CFO roles) who brings extensive financial and business management expertise to companies on a part-time or project basis. The right time to hire a fractional CFO depends on a company’s stage of growth or financial tasks at hand. The benefits derived from hiring at the right time are many and long-lasting to a business.

What Does a Fractional CFO do for a Company? Fractional CFOs most commonly partner with companies to help overcome financial challenges, achieve growth, optimize strategy, implement systems, raise capital, or navigate an audit or transaction. Overcoming Specific Challenges: Fractional CFOs are often brought into an organization when there are financial challenges that the company’s existing team does not have either the skills or manpower to overcome. In many cases, a company does not have an in-house CFO. In some cases, however, the company may have an existing CFO, and the fractional CFO acts as a partner or advisor or helps lead separate projects such as raising capital or navigating an audit.

Looking to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We offer CFOs for immediate very short term objectives and longer term engagements. Customizable with transparent pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad solution and costly full time hire. Along with the core services of C-Suite Level Executives in Finance and a contingent of Fractional CFO talent and experienced Intermittent CFO innovators, Panterra Finance services include: international Business – Experts in Global Tax Liabilities and Cash Flow Strategies, investments and planning. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Advisory – Providing valuations as well as independent perspectives on offers and options. Internal Audits – Independent internal auditors with in-depth reports highlighting risks and vulnerabilities. Risk Management – A worldwide footprint enables Panterra Finance to identify risks and opportunities in the new world economy. Compliance Review – Actionable understanding when entering markets with new rules, regulations, laws and international asset allocation decisions.

CFOs usually are responsible for key finance functions which have included broad categories of accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), controls, compliance, tax, and audit. Going forward towards 2022, the same functions exist, but they are getting more automated, so the CFO can focus more on forward perspectives. Storytelling requires strong emotional intelligence and solid communication skills. Here’s the four key areas the CFO can be messaging: Why & Purpose: Communicating the “Why” is one of the strongest messages the CFO can deliver. It’s not only the reason for the corporate existence, but it’s also very motivational for all the stakeholders. This message should be repeated frequently and consistently to make people feel the genuine purpose.

The CFO is the top ranking executive related to managing a company’s finances. This includes managing all aspects of financial and cash flow planning, as well as analyzing its financial position. A CFO is comparable to a treasurer or controller. However, unlike a controller or accountant, a CFO is responsible for financial planning, while the other two are in charge of bookkeeping and the company’s financial statements. Big public companies may have defined the CFO role, but the chief financial officer position is becoming increasingly common in midsize and even small firms. Recent postings for full-time CFOs on job-search sites include an emerging air mobility design and manufacturing company in Massachusetts with fewer than 20 employees and a 94-bed community hospital in Hawaii.

Liquidity refers to an organization’s ability to pay off its short-term liabilities — those that will come due in less than a year — with readily accessible, or liquid, funds. Liquidity is usually expressed as a ratio or a percentage of what the company owes against what it owns. CFOs are concerned with ensuring that customer payments are made in full and on time and controlling expenses so that enough cash is on hand to meet financial obligations.

The option of working from anywhere in the world is another advantage of a DAO. In a traditional organization, you have to be physically present in order to participate in the organization. With a DAO, you can participate from anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection. There are many other examples of DAOs, and there are many different ways in which they can be used. The possibilities are endless, and it is up to the creativity of the developers to come up with new and innovative ways to use them.

We are your ally in managing business risks. In a world that is rapidly changing, we help you identify what that change means for your business and what measures you need to employ to protect it from a range of risks in the new economy.

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.

Many small and mid-sized organizations employ a bookkeeper or controller who maintains the financial system and records transactions in an accurate and timely manner. The CPA produces the tax returns and some basic performance analysis quarterly and at year-end. However, this leaves a significant gap in terms of the information and management reporting available. Business owners and entrepreneurs may lack the critical financial information needed for informed decision making; and for external purposes such as presentations to lenders or investors.

In these early years of creating innovations in the corporate C-Suite, Sam McQuade nurtured and created a maverick approach to new finance operations for Stryker as it broke through to the lucrative emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)). While approaching the markets in the growing economies of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Romania, Sam McQuade was recognizing the need for Interim and Fractional CFO’s for the avalanche of incubators and startup companies in these underdeveloped economies that were on the cusp of being integrated into modern International Finance systems and markets. Read extra details at Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.

Excellent advantages when hiring fractional CFO with Sam McQuade CFO: When a finance function is focused purely on accounting (performed by a bookkeeper) and financial planning (performed by a controller), a CFO will, in most cases, not be necessary. However, companies at this level may want to consider bringing on a fractional CFO on an interim basis in the event of a takeover or restructuring. Companies should consider engaging a CFO, whether fractional or full-time, when the size and complexity of revenue begin to overburden the existing finance team. This generally occurs at the Series B funding round.

Cost Of A Fractional CFO vs Full Time CFO: The cost of fractional CFO services is significantly less than that of making expensive financial decisions without the proper guidance. Fractional CFOs typically get paid hourly since they are part-time or work per project. On average, the hourly rate for a fractional CFO is $300. Startups that hire fractional CFOs average between $5k and $8k for 15-25 hours of work. Some fractional CFO services run a monthly fee based on assumed hours. Full-time CFOs require a high salary, an average of $420k per year, plus benefits. Add in an accountant and bookkeeper you’re going to pay over $500k to assemble a financial team. Discover additional details at Sam McQuade CFO.

Do you want to hire your first CFO or need interim coverage? We offer CFOs for urgent short term projects and longer term engagements. Flexible with fair pricing so you cover 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.

CFOs may also help set technology direction, especially fintech, and make recommendations on everything from supply chain to marketing based on their fiscal insights and industry knowledge. The most-valued CFOs are visionaries — they have an eye toward the future, work closely with top leadership and aren’t shy about recommending strategic moves. The chief executive officer (CEO) is a company’s highest-ranking executive. Depending on corporate structure, the CEO may be responsible for all aspects of a company’s operational and fiscal health, or a president may share some duties. The CEO is the official face and voice of the company to press and analysts, the general public and, if applicable, the board of directors.

Return on investment (ROI): Part of a CFO’s strategic focus is on ensuring a strong return on investment (ROI) for their organizations. ROI is a measure of the likelihood of receiving a return on dollars invested and the precise amount of that return. As a ratio, it looks at the gain or loss of an investment as a percentage of the cost. Because ROI is a relatively basic KPI that does not account for all variables — net present value, for example — CFOs add context to evaluate whether a project will deliver sufficiently robust ROI to be worth the investment.

Now, suppose there is a problem with the website. Maybe the server goes down, or maybe there is a bug in the code. In such a case, the smart contract will still be functional, and the transactions will still take place. This is because the smart contract is running on the blockchain, which is a decentralized network. Even if one node in the network goes down, the other nodes will still be up and running, and the transactions will take place. This is just a very simple example to show you how a DAO works. In reality, DAOs can be much more complex, and they can do many more things. For instance, they can be used to create decentralized versions of traditional companies or organizations.

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.

Includes producing accurate and timely financial statements, management reports and projections, forecasts, budgets and cost models that are all based in economic reality. Such tools enhance management insight and promote proactive management. By identifying the levers that drive performance they can be calibrated to maximize efficiency, lower costs and optimize profit and cash flow. Appropriate financial controls can provide many benefits including accurate financial statements, improved control of company assets and the reduced risk of fraud.

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!

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. Find even more info on Sam McQuade CFO.

Fractional CFOs can help companies: Develop detailed short-, mid-, and long-term financial forecasts; Prepare budgets based on forecasts; Analyze potential future products, services, markets, and customer segments. Helping Manage Growth: Fractional CFOs are also helpful in scaling a business, ensuring profitable growth as the business becomes more complex. This work involves reinventing the tools, processes, and vendor relationships the business uses to deliver value to an ever-growing and increasingly diverse set of customers. This is often called “bridging the chasm”, as most companies start to see declining margins and increasing headaches as they grow revenue past a certain threshold.

Premium benefits to hire a interim Chief Financial Officer with Sam McQuade CFO: Specialized Financial Services: A fractional CFO can provide specialized financial services to help you reach your goals. All startups are different. SaaS-based startups, for example, have different revenue recognition. Because of this, their focus is customer based. A CFO can monitor customer-specific KPIs to help assess future profitability. They can help with mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, strategic planning, budgeting and forecasting, as well. Read additional information at https://gab.com/samueledwinmcquade.

Enter the fractional CFO. For companies not mature enough to warrant a full-time CFO position, they can bring in specific expertise to help on varied projects covering the financial and strategy spectrum. When different CFO role elements are required on an intermittent basis, it’s time to bring in fractional talent. What Types of Projects Can a Fractional CFO Help Resolve? The projects a fractional CFO can assist with are multi-disciplined and split between financial and non-financial duties. The role of the CFO is complex and can be unbundled into specific pain points and influence areas.

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.

Searching to hire your very first CFO or need interim coverage? We provide CFOs for immediate very short term objectives and longer term engagements. Customizable with transparent pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad and costly full time hire. Along with the core services of C-Suite Level Executives in Finance and a contingent of Fractional CFO talent and experienced Intermittent CFO innovators, Panterra Finance services include: international Business – Experts in Global Tax Liabilities and Cash Flow Strategies, investments and planning. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Advisory – Providing valuations as well as independent perspectives on offers and options. Internal Audits – Independent internal auditors with in-depth reports highlighting risks and vulnerabilities. Risk Management – A worldwide footprint enables Panterra Finance to identify risks and opportunities in the new world economy. Compliance Review – Actionable understanding when entering markets with new rules, regulations, laws and international asset allocation decisions.

The CFO function is evolving at lightspeed. With digital transformation and societal changes, the CFO role is rapidly turning into one of a “Chief Fiduciary Officer”, which is going beyond the traditional financials to look towards the future and lead long term value creation in a world of many unknown risks. Storytelling is a very powerful tool to engage and energize teams about value creation and potential pitfall areas. The traditional path of CFO usually starts with a solid foundation based on technical knowledge and then after about 15 years, the great leaders earn the coveted title.

A chief financial officer (CFO) is the highest-ranking financial professional in an organization and is responsible for the fiscal health of the business. The CFO’s responsibilities include, but aren’t limited to, building a top-notch finance and accounting team, ensuring revenues and expenses stay in balance, overseeing FP&A (financial planning & analysis) functions, making recommendations on mergers and acquisitions, obtaining funding, working with department heads to analyze financial data and craft budgets, attesting to the accuracy of reports and consulting with boards of directors and the CEO on strategy.

The CFO helps select skilled staff for the finance team and works with departments to allocate budget for human capital management. CFOs put complex data — current, past and predicted financial results — in perspective and help the CEO make sound financial decisions: Should we introduce this new product or service? Can we afford to on-shore our supply chain? What are the tax implications of our employees working from anywhere?

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 DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that is run by smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It is an organization or company that is not centrally controlled by any one person or entity. Rather, it is governed by code that is written into the smart contracts. This code can be modified or updated by anyone who has access to the DAO’s GitHub repository. To put this into perspective, imagine a traditional company or organization. There is usually a board of directors or executive team that makes all the decisions about how the company will be run. With a DAO, there is no such thing. The code that governs the DAO is open source and available for anyone to view and audit. In this new scenario, an organization can be run by anyone in the world who has an internet connection.

A properly qualified CFO is a business professional with relevant experience within various commercial environments. This important distinction between a career CFO and the CPA is key. The CFO can solve many financial and business problems in short order, due to having had experience in such matters and the ability to quickly identify and address issues and employ best practices and techniques. Hiring a CFO to perform the financial and administrative functions of the business, frees up the business owner so they can focus on other value-enhancing aspects of the business. In addition to bringing financial and accounting expertise – a CFO can deal with most administrative areas such as human resources, facilities, insurances, legal and compliance, as well as stakeholder relations.

Smaller companies, incubators and startups could not match the salaries that the full time CFO commanded on the world financial stage. The seeds for the concept of an Interim or Fractional CFO were planted in the mind of Sam McQuade almost 3 decades ago when he first entered the world of International Finance as an Entrepreneur Consultant in Geneva Switzerland after achieving his MBA/MA at European University. During this tumultuous time at the turn of the century on the international financial scene, Mr. McQuade was ahead of his time. He offered as needed financial consultation services for international behemoths the Swiss based Nestle Corporation and the US based medical device corporation Stryker. The focus of his services, which would years later be foundational in the concepts of Panterra was a new model in product development, manufacturing and marketing. See even more information at Sam McQuade CFO.

AI startups advantages when hiring a interim Chief Financial Officer from Sam McQuade CFO today: 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.

A fractional CFO is a financial expert who can bring the right level of financial knowledge to your business. They provide the experience, tools, and resources you need to reach your goals while ensuring the numbers are in order — without breaking the bank. While a CFO offers many of the same services as a fractional CFO, the main difference is in the time commitment. Fractional CFOs are typically part-time and outsource their services on an hourly basis. The big question is, do you absolutely need to hire a CFO? We say, can you afford not to? See additional info on https://flipboard.com/@SammcQuade1.

Searching to hire your first CFO or need interim coverage? We offer solution CFOs for immediate short term objectives and longer term engagements. Customizable with clear pricing so you cover your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad and expensive full time hire. Sam McQuade CFO is the Founder and CEO of Panterra Finance. This worldwide Financial Partner Solution services is a leading innovator in the new economy of scale offering a new executive suite model with the Fractional CFO and Interim CFO. The Panterra Finance team with expert Interim CFO executives and Fractional CFO services brings with it a global financial leadership team to the new world economy. Describing Panterra Finance in his own words, CFO Sam McQuade stated : As Founder/CEO of Panterra Finance, I am on mission to help guide businesses to achieve success through thoughtful strategic financial collaboration.

A chief financial officer (CFO) is the highest-ranking financial professional in an organization and is responsible for the fiscal health of the business. The CFO’s responsibilities include, but aren’t limited to, building a top-notch finance and accounting team, ensuring revenues and expenses stay in balance, overseeing FP&A (financial planning & analysis) functions, making recommendations on mergers and acquisitions, obtaining funding, working with department heads to analyze financial data and craft budgets, attesting to the accuracy of reports and consulting with boards of directors and the CEO on strategy.

Return on investment (ROI): Part of a CFO’s strategic focus is on ensuring a strong return on investment (ROI) for their organizations. ROI is a measure of the likelihood of receiving a return on dollars invested and the precise amount of that return. As a ratio, it looks at the gain or loss of an investment as a percentage of the cost. Because ROI is a relatively basic KPI that does not account for all variables — net present value, for example — CFOs add context to evaluate whether a project will deliver sufficiently robust ROI to be worth the investment.

Friends With Benefits is a decentralized social network. It allows users to connect with each other and share content. It allows the users to collaborate and create new content. Users may connect with individuals who share their interests in other cities through city-specific hubs. The more FWB tokens a user has, the more opportunities to meet and interact with others develop. This is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that uses the power of the blockchain to adjudicate disputes. Kleros is a DAO because it is powered by smart contracts. The Kleros token (PNK) is used to incentive jurors to vote on disputes. When someone wants to submit a dispute to Kleros, they first have to deposit some PNK. If the jury rules in favor of the person who submitted the dispute, then they get their PNK back. If the jury rules against them, then they lose their PNK. Kleros can be used to adjudicate any kind of dispute. It has been used to adjudicate disputes in online markets, freelance platforms, and even in the sharing economy.

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.

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.

To summarize, a fractional CFO brings all the benefits of a full-time resource, but at a fraction the cost. They work an agreed upon amount of time, and on an ongoing basis. The benefits are myriad, and range from improved reporting and decision-making, clearer insight into the business for planning and forecasting, and stronger financial management and controls. Perhaps the biggest benefit however, is how the CEO can transfer the financial and administrative burden to the CFO, and thus free themselves to work on other critical aspects of the business.

CFOs usually are responsible for key finance functions which have included broad categories of accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), controls, compliance, tax, and audit. Going forward towards 2022, the same functions exist, but they are getting more automated, so the CFO can focus more on forward perspectives. Storytelling requires strong emotional intelligence and solid communication skills. Here’s the four key areas the CFO can be messaging: Why & Purpose: Communicating the “Why” is one of the strongest messages the CFO can deliver. It’s not only the reason for the corporate existence, but it’s also very motivational for all the stakeholders. This message should be repeated frequently and consistently to make people feel the genuine purpose.

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 extra details on Sam McQuade.

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.

Advantages for startups hiring a flexible Chief Financial Officer with Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance: Navigate an audit or transaction: As businesses grow, internal audits become necessary to get a measure of the company’s financial health. In many cases, audits may also be mandatory by law. An audit may involve a microscopic inspection of not just a company’s cash flow but also procurement and purchasing systems, taxation, and every transaction involving the exchange of money. Due to the complex and very minute nature of audits, founders – especially first-time entrepreneurs – may not have the experience to navigate their firm through it. Having a fractional CFO on board means the founders can delegate all responsibilities related to the audit to someone who is experienced in the domain.

Fractional CFOs can help companies: Develop detailed short-, mid-, and long-term financial forecasts; Prepare budgets based on forecasts; Analyze potential future products, services, markets, and customer segments. Helping Manage Growth: Fractional CFOs are also helpful in scaling a business, ensuring profitable growth as the business becomes more complex. This work involves reinventing the tools, processes, and vendor relationships the business uses to deliver value to an ever-growing and increasingly diverse set of customers. This is often called “bridging the chasm”, as most companies start to see declining margins and increasing headaches as they grow revenue past a certain threshold.

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. Find more details at Sam McQuade.

The CFO function is evolving at lightspeed. With digital transformation and societal changes, the CFO role is rapidly turning into one of a “Chief Fiduciary Officer”, which is going beyond the traditional financials to look towards the future and lead long term value creation in a world of many unknown risks. Storytelling is a very powerful tool to engage and energize teams about value creation and potential pitfall areas. The traditional path of CFO usually starts with a solid foundation based on technical knowledge and then after about 15 years, the great leaders earn the coveted title.

The CFO reports to the CEO but remains one of the key personnel in any company. In the financial industry, it is a high-ranking position, and in other industries, it is usually the third-highest position in a company. People in this role have significant input in the company’s investments, capital structure, and how the company manages its income and expenses. This corporate officer may assist the CEO with forecasting, cost-benefit analysis, and obtaining funding for various initiatives.

Liquidity refers to an organization’s ability to pay off its short-term liabilities — those that will come due in less than a year — with readily accessible, or liquid, funds. Liquidity is usually expressed as a ratio or a percentage of what the company owes against what it owns. CFOs are concerned with ensuring that customer payments are made in full and on time and controlling expenses so that enough cash is on hand to meet financial obligations.

To make you understand it in simple words, let me explain it with an example. Suppose there is a website that allows people to buy and sell products. This website has a smart contract that governs how the transactions will take place. When someone wants to buy a product, they will send a request to the smart contract. The smart contract will then check if the person has enough money to buy the product. If they do, then the transaction will take place, and the product will be sent to the buyer. If the person doesn’t have enough money, then the transaction will not take place.

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.

To summarize, a fractional CFO brings all the benefits of a full-time resource, but at a fraction the cost. They work an agreed upon amount of time, and on an ongoing basis. The benefits are myriad, and range from improved reporting and decision-making, clearer insight into the business for planning and forecasting, and stronger financial management and controls. Perhaps the biggest benefit however, is how the CEO can transfer the financial and administrative burden to the CFO, and thus free themselves to work on other critical aspects of the business.

Searching to hire your very first CFO or need interim coverage? We provide CFOs for urgent very short term objectives and longer term engagements. Adaptable with fair pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to rush into a potentially bad and costly 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. Discover even more details on https://www.behance.net/sammcquade.

Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance talking about advantages for startups hiring a fractional CFO in 2023: Focus: A fractional CFO, like an external consultant, comes in to tide your startup over its immediate needs. This means that you can focus better on the task at hand – whether it be an audit, a merger or an acquisition, or a round of raising capital. How to hire the right CFO for startups? Although a fractional CFO isn’t just another freelancer or consultant, the dynamics of hiring one are similar. Begin by looking at CFOs who have worked in the same niche, and also helped companies the same size as yours achieve growth. Additionally, you should find someone who is excited by what you do. Startups are built by people who are passionate about their work, and there is no reason you need to make an exception to this core value of startup culture when you hire 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. Find extra info at Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.

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.

A chief financial officer is a top-level executive. The CFO is a financial controller who handles everything relating to cash flow, financial planning, and taxation issues. A CFO is often the highest financial position and the third-highest position in a company, playing a vital role in the company’s strategic initiatives. Financial reports completed under a CFO must adhere to financial standards. People interested in becoming a CFO must have an academic and professional background in finances, economics, and/or analysis.

Return on investment (ROI): Part of a CFO’s strategic focus is on ensuring a strong return on investment (ROI) for their organizations. ROI is a measure of the likelihood of receiving a return on dollars invested and the precise amount of that return. As a ratio, it looks at the gain or loss of an investment as a percentage of the cost. Because ROI is a relatively basic KPI that does not account for all variables — net present value, for example — CFOs add context to evaluate whether a project will deliver sufficiently robust ROI to be worth the investment.

The main goal of a DAO is to decentralize power. In a traditional organization, the power is concentrated in the hands of a few people. This can lead to corruption and cronyism. With a DAO, the power is decentralized, and it is distributed among all the members of the organization. This makes it much more difficult for any one person or group of people to abuse their power. A better real-life example is Ukraine DAO, which is a fundraising effort to help the people of Ukraine in the current war against Russia. It collects and distributes funds to various Ukrainian charities. The funds are collected through Ethereum’s smart contracts, and they are then distributed to the charities according to the code that governs the DAO.

Selling your business or looking to buy others? Our experts can lead the deal and make sure that you have a thoughtful ownership transition. We are happy to provide second opinions on valuations as well so you have another perspective and feel better before your close the deal.

The most important thing to understand about a DAO is that it is autonomous. This means that it can exist and continue to function without any human intervention. Once the code is written and deployed, the DAO will continue to run according to the code that governs it. This is made possible by the fact that smart contracts are immutable. This means that they cannot be changed or altered in any way once they have been deployed to the Ethereum blockchain. The DAO’s basic idea, while intriguing, is also fascinating, and it represents a point where technology trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the internet of things (IoT) are coming together to provide fresh possibilities.

To summarize, a fractional CFO brings all the benefits of a full-time resource, but at a fraction the cost. They work an agreed upon amount of time, and on an ongoing basis. The benefits are myriad, and range from improved reporting and decision-making, clearer insight into the business for planning and forecasting, and stronger financial management and controls. Perhaps the biggest benefit however, is how the CEO can transfer the financial and administrative burden to the CFO, and thus free themselves to work on other critical aspects of the business.

Do you want to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We provide CFOs for immediate very short term projects and longer term engagements. Adaptable with transparent pricing so you cover your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad and costly 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 even more details on https://www.thinglink.com/user/1609884254542495747.

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.