Sara Wait, MBA

Don’t promote your Finance Controller. Not yet. They might be great at managing numbers, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to lead the business. Instead, bring in a Fractional CFO for a year. Let your Controller work closely with them. Let them see how a CFO thinks, how they talk to the board, how they make business decisions. Let them grow into the role with guidance, not pressure. Then promote. When they are ready to lead like a CFO, not just act like a senior accountant. CFO2Growth

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To my CFO friends who have not yet started with AI - from a fellow CFO who has only dabbled in it. From my experience over the last few years, for companies greater than $10 million annual revenue, the app that provides a clear payback you can measure and is also relatively easy for your accounting clerk to adapt to is - AP Automation. With the vast majority of A/P invoices received by email, the app will optically scan the invoice for the key data, route it to an approver or verify against a PO, format it for posting, apply the correct G/L account number, and integrate to your ERP system for posting. AI comes in when you have a vendor invoice the system does not know what G/L account number to post to. You tell it which account and then going forward it remembers and "learns". After time, you will have as many as 90% of your emails coming into your email getting posting directly to your ERP system, freeing up tons of time your A/P person spends doing the same thing. People have asked me - which AP Automation tool is the best? Frankly there are a bunch of good ones out there and they are improving by the month. But your first filter should be the ability to integrate to your ERP system. If that is not part of it, you'll be missing out on a lot of time savings. That was a very rudimentary description as I've tried to simplify it for this post. Has anyone else implemented AP Automation or anyone else have something to add that I've missed?

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🔴 Lack of Impulse Control Will Kill Your CFO Career What I’ve learned over years of working in private equity portcos is this:  - Impulse control is a CFO’s secret weapon.  - It’s the difference between being a trusted leader or a liability. Here’s where I’ve seen even great CFOs stumble (myself included): - Saying More Than Needed – The urge to explain everything is real. But over-explaining weakens your position and invites unnecessary scrutiny. Say what’s needed, then stop talking. - Trying to Be Funny at the Wrong Time – I’ve made this mistake before. A well-placed joke can break the tension, but the wrong one can break credibility. Know your audience. - Over-Apologizing – Confidence matters. Own mistakes, but don’t apologize for things outside your control. - Battling PE Sponsors on Every Question – PE investors ask hard questions. That’s their job. The best CFOs don’t get defensive—they answer with precision and move on. - Letting Conversations Go Down Rabbit Holes – Not every topic needs a full debate in a boardroom. Know when to say, "Let’s take this offline." - Committing to Numbers Prematurely – I’ve seen CFOs throw out numbers on the spot to look decisive. That’s a dangerous game. A smart CFO waits until they’ve vetted the data. - Misusing Silence – Silence can feel uncomfortable, but it’s powerful. A well-timed pause in a negotiation or a board meeting can shift the entire conversation. - Overpromising to Please the Room – Setting aggressive targets to make investors happy in the moment will backfire when you can’t deliver. Be ambitious, but be real. - Choosing Battles Wisely – Not every disagreement is worth it. Pick the fights that actually move the business forward. - Letting Nonverbal Reactions Speak for You – Frustration, eye rolls, sighs—people notice. A great CFO stays composed. - Forcing an Answer Instead of Saying ‘I’ll Get Back to You’ – Sometimes, the best response is, "Let me run the numbers and follow up." Rushing an answer can create bigger problems later. I had to learn these lessons the hard way. But once I did, everything changed—how I communicate, how I lead, and how I build trust with investors, boards, and teams and my CEO. What’s the hardest communication lesson you’ve had to learn as a finance leader or CFO? Let’s hear it. ♻️ Repost so others can learn from this!

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The $100K in 4 Days Strategy - But for Finance Pros I’ve saved companies millions...just by improving their month-end close process. If you want a faster, error-free close, read this: A messy close leads to: • Late financials • Errors in reporting • Missed compliance deadlines But I built a process that works every time. Here’s how you can optimize month-end close and free up your team’s time: 1️⃣ Communicate deadlines early & back up data. 2️⃣ Reconcile banks, invoices & payroll. 3️⃣ Reverse, adjust, and finalize. 4️⃣ Catch anomalies 5️⃣ Compare budget vs. actual. 6️⃣ Lock entries & prevent rework. 7️⃣ Post-close review for next month. 8️⃣ Submit tax & regulatory reports timely. 9️⃣ Protect your data & keep records clean. This systemized approach = Faster closes, fewer mistakes, and more strategic finance. Want the full checklist? Grab the high-res PDF here 👉 https://lnkd.in/d6zA73e5 (♻️ Repost if your finance team needs this playbook.)

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You can tell a lot about a PE firm by looking at its CFO. Every number tells one story. Every CFO tells another, usually about the partner they work for. After years of recruiting finance leaders, one pattern keeps showing up: the PE CFO starts to mirror the partner. Calm, methodical partner? You’ll see a CFO who plans two quarters ahead. Reactive, deal-chasing partner? That CFO’s running on Slack and caffeine. It’s not good or bad. It’s human. Two people share pressure long enough, and they sync up. That’s why “fit” in a CFO search isn’t about resume lines. It’s about wavelength. Does this CFO thrive under intensity, or burn out from it? Does the partner value process, or pace? The best pairings see the echo and adjust before it becomes noise. If you’ve lived this dynamic, what makes a CFO/partner pairing work? (And when it doesn’t, what cracks first?)👇 #PrivateEquity #CFO #Leadership #Finance #ExecutiveSearch #PEBackedCompanies #CFOLeadership

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As a CFO, I can spot financial trouble before it hits the P&L. By the time the numbers turn red, it’s already too late. The real warning signs? They show up earlier Quiet, subtle, and often ignored. Here are 3 red flags I look for before the damage shows up in the accounts: 🚩 Cash flow timing gets tighter Revenue’s steady. Costs haven’t changed. But suddenly, we’re chasing payments and stretching payables. That’s not a blip—it’s the early stages of a crunch. 🚩 Sales growth without margin growth Top-line is up? Great. But if margin % is flat or declining, we’re running harder just to stay in place. That’s not growth. That’s dilution. 🚩 Increased reliance on ‘one-off’ explanations “We had a delay.” “There was a timing issue.” “That’s a one-off.” The more frequently I hear these, the more I dig. Financial trouble doesn’t start in the P&L. It starts in the story behind the numbers. 💬 What early red flags do you watch for? #CFOInsights #FinancialLeadership #RedFlags #EarlyWarning #CashFlow #Margins #OperationalFinance #ExecutiveStrategy

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𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘀? 🎪 When I took over a finance team a few years ago, the first thing I saw was… chaos!! Years of accounting backlog. No clear process. And a deadline that felt like a bad joke. Everyone said it was impossible to fix. Honestly, I almost agreed. Then I stopped staring at the mess and started bringing clarity. What does “done” look like? Who owns what? How often do we check progress? Once that was clear, momentum kicked in. We cleared the backlog, built structure, and rolled out proper reporting, all within the so-called “impossible” deadline. That experience taught me something I still hold on to. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Clarity turns the impossible into progress 💪 #Leadership #Finance #Teamwork #Clarity #Growth #Management #CFO

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