INSIDE STORY | FD Recruitment


BASIC QUALIFICATIONS oming from an accounting background is mostly a given. Historically, in order of preference, would-be CFOs are either a chartered accountant, have


C


Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (Cima) and Association


of Chartered Certified Accountants (Acca)


qualifications or at least can demonstrate a sound academic record. Plus, they should have experience of working in a commercial organisation, where they took a wider view of


issues and


understood the business they worked for. There are three types of commercial organisations a would-be


finance director can join: listed, private-equity owned or an entrepreneurial start-up. “Each has its own quirk that will dictate the profile of the


individual,” says Graham Oates, chief executive of Norrie Johnston Recruitment.


LISTED COMPANIES The plc is more the domain of an older individual – “the grey-haired bean counter” – who has progressed up the rungs of the corporate entity before they have reached the dizzy heights of group CFO. To reach that number one seat on a plc, you will have to


have done your time within the corporate to gain the City’s acceptance as well as that of non-executives on the board. What that means is that you have to be comfortable doing


what the Americans call a “dog-and-pony show”, going out on the road and talking up the company to fund managers and other investors. In short, coping with investor relations.


Plus, being an FD can be a lonely role because there is


MID-TIER COMPANIES If you are looking for an FD role in a mid-tier company, oſten they are funded by private equity. So, you have to be comfortable speaking to banks and investors. Bailey says: “Private-equity-owned companies need to be


working with banks, managing cash and banking covenants. Oſten running a business day to day focuses directly on cash and cash generation.”


SMALL BUSINESSES The smaller the business, the more wide-ranging the FD role will be. The two main directors will be products and sales and the first external hire will be for a third musketeer covering finance and operations. SME financial directors wear two or three hats, whether it’s being responsible for IT, human resources and sometimes even legal. Becoming an FD in an SME may not suit somebody who’s


come from a listed company. A bigger organisation will have a much bigger team with quality resources, whereas an agile start-up might just consist of a CEO and an FD.


Becoming an FD in an SME may not suit somebody who’s come


from a listed company. A bigger organisation will have a much bigger team with quality resources, whereas an agile start-up might just consist of a CEO and an FD


32 DIRECTOR OF FINANCE DOFONLINE.COM


nobody to defer to – that kind of leadership can be isolating. Heppenstall says: “For me, this tends to be a much broader


role because it tends to be smaller management teams. SMEs definitely want more breadth, competence around a number of other areas – experience of HR, IT, operational experience plus the full360-degree finance skillset from commercial finance through to technical statutory reporting plus tax experience and treasury if they’ve got some international operations.”


MERGING ROLES The gap between the CFO and the chief operations officer is becoming smaller. The FD will become the right-hand person rather than someone who sits in the shadows. Recruiters see the CFO role as a COO who looks aſter numbers. It’s not just going to be about presenting end-of-year accounts, but problem solving. Going forward, the more clerical aspects of the finance department – bookkeeping, invoices and expenses – will be automated by machine learning and, later on, by artificial intelligence. “Oſten the CEOs will say that I’m looking for someone to


deputise me and to be my second-in-command,” says Scott. “They need all-round awareness of problems, so they need to talking to other CFOs about cybersecurity, risk analysis. The CFO will be the person who is making sure these issues are getting solved. They tend to be everything back office.” Yet 54 per cent of those interviewed for a Grant Thornton/


Directorbank Group report What makes an outstanding finance director? said they had never seen an FD develop into a good CEO, despite 89 per cent of them saying the same individual had been an outstanding FD.


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