The Key Operating Expenses for most (not all) businesses are Payroll, Advertising and Rent. The CFO needs to assess the risk to the company for those Key Operating expenses.
The CFO needs to have the business owner rank each employee on a 1 to 10 scale. If there are not enough 8, 9 or 10 rated employees that usually means that the employees are not very productive as a whole. This can weigh down a Companys progress and pose a great risk to the business. It is an important CFO service to challenge the business owner on the strengths and weaknesses of employees and if the weaknesses outweigh the strengths suggest ways to transition to better employees. As mentioned in a previous post regarding inferior employees, the business owner needs to cut their losses and strive for all 8, 9 and 10 rated workers. The CFO also needs to assess whether the mix of employees is too top heavy. Business owners tend to get top heavy especially if they are phasing out of the business. It is an effective CFO Duty to look at an organization chart (or create on if it does not exist) and assess where the risk of employees is.
How effective is the company advertising? Is the percentage of advertising to sales in line with industry averages? Sometimes it is extremely difficult to help the owner measure the effectiveness of advertising mainly because there is no tracking methodology to determine which advertising works best. Lots of times owners have a sense of what may work, but many times this is perception versus reality. One rule of thumb for the CFO in assessing the risk associated with advertising is to see what advertising form the company spends most of it’s money and challenge the business owner as to its effectiveness. Having an internet marketing plan with effective Search Engine Optimization needs to be incorporated in a marketing plan.
What is the current status of the building/office lease? How many years left in the lease and does the current facility still meet the companys needs? An important CFO Service is to assess the risk of operating in a facility that has a long term lease that no longer meets the business needs. In addition, it is important to know if there is a personal guarantee on the lease. If the lease expires in the short term, it is incumbent upon the CFO to put together a plan to transition to a new facility they will meet the needs of the business.
