Interim CFO – Process Review & Team Building - Case Study

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Sector: Not for Profit

Location: Melbourne, VIC

Our client is a household name in the Not for Profit (NFP) Sector. The Australian arm of the global entity has approximately 1000 staff and 2500 volunteers based in Australia. They have an annual budget of $200 million across social enterprises, international and domestic programs, and charity retail networks.

Issue:

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) exited the business and left a finance management team that had been stable for nearly a decade. During the search for a permanent replacement, a finance manager was named ‘Acting’ and shouldered additional responsibilities while other members of the operational finance team were pulled away from their ‘day jobs’ to support the executive team and Board. Unfortunately, the permanent search process was protracted and ‘distributing the workload’ proved unsatisfactory and unsustainable.

Solution:

The NFP approached EIM. Shortly, EIM appointed an Interim Executive with a successful track record as a CFO in another significant NFP organisation. Demonstrating a high level of emotional intelligence, the Interim CFO stabilised and united the operational finance team to deliver business as usual while supporting the executive team and Board.

The Interim CFO is also exercised deep commercial acumen including core issue identification, analytical skills, problem-solving and financial literacy to review and sense-check processes, systems and forecasts as well as provide insights into the ‘right long-term permanent appointee’ for the CFO role.