Part-time CFOs oversee financial operations for companies and organizations, sometimes sitting on the board of directors. They may manage budgets, set performance goals, secure financing, and reduce costs. Part-time CFOs typically work half as many hours as full-time directors and may handle internal accounts or external relations. They often have a degree in finance or accounting and may be promoted from within or appointed from outside the company.
A part-time CFO oversees the financial operations of a company or organization. While many companies employ full-time directors, some companies split the role between two part-time directors, each with a specific area of expertise. Small businesses sometimes employ part-time CFOs rather than full-time CFOs because there isn’t enough work to keep a full-time CFO busy.
The operations of many organizations are controlled by a board of directors, and a part-time CFO may sit on that board. In these cases, the director provides the president and other board members with reports that detail the organization’s recent financial performance. The CFO may be responsible for managing the company’s budget as a whole, as well as developing annual performance goals for the finance department. During company expansions, the part-time CFO is responsible for securing financing from lenders or investors, and during economic downturns, the CFO is often responsible for finding ways to reduce costs.
In most cases, the part-time CFO is the most senior employee in the finance department. Therefore, the director has ultimate responsibility for hiring and firing employees, although directors in large companies often allow regional managers to recruit their own direct reports. The finance directors set production and performance targets for the regional finance managers, and the director typically holds regular meetings during which the company’s progress towards these targets is tracked. Typically, a CFO has the authority to reassign targets mid-year if one department falls short of expectations or if another department exceeds its target sooner than expected.
A part-time manager typically works half as many hours as a full-time director. Some part-time directors choose to work on the busiest days of the week, while others report to work every day but only stay for half a day. In companies with two directors on a part-time basis, one of these individuals may handle internal accounts, while the other may handle fiscal reporting and external relations with funders and shareholders. Laws in some countries allow a single individual to serve as a part-time director of more than one company, although these individuals must be careful not to compromise proprietary information about the two companies.
Typically, a part-time CFO is an individual with a college degree in finance, accounting, or a related topic. Many companies prefer to promote from within; in this case, a director could be an individual who has spent several years working in junior positions in the finance department. Other companies appoint well-known people to the board of directors. In this case, a part-time CFO could be a semi-retired accountant, government minister, or a prominent industry figure.
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