“Technical accounting is a requirement, but it is not the value. The value comes from the coaching and development that goes both ways.” Chris Stump, CFO Services
It’s 6:30AM on a typical Monday morning and Chris Stump, a CFO Services Manager at the Butler Business Consulting Group (BBCG), is on his way to a client’s site. Chris’ financial background ranges from mid-market to Fortune 500 companies, and his team is supplemented by top-notch Butler students and faculty.
Chris is traveling to American Art Clay Company, Inc. (AMACO), a client of the BBCG that utilizes the outsourced CFO Services we provide. Outsourced CFO Services engagements allow our clients to have access to a wide range of financial services without hiring a fulltime CFO.
Chris is always excited about being able to step into a new business, learn about the business from a variety of different perspectives at all levels in the organization, and then offer his expertise to the business to help it grow. This expertise has and continues to allow him to develop 1-year and 5-years financial plans, navigate cash flow requirements during periods of growth exceeding 100 percent, and improve business operations that have led to 250 percent increases in profits and EBITDA while incurring 20% increases in sales. At AMACO, Chris and his team have been improving the efficiency of payroll processing, working with external auditors during year-end close, and tracking the company’s key performance indicators (KPI) while communicating with the accounting team.
Additionally, with the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), Chris has also been working with his clients and linking them to seasoned tax experts in his network to discuss possible opportunities for growth, areas of concern, and strategy changes to their businesses.
According to the Tax Foundation, the TCJA “allows full and immediate expensing of short-lived capital investments for five years” and lowers the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, both of which could benefit Chris’ clients. Conversely, the TCJA also limits the deductibility of net interest expense and eliminates the domestic production activities deduction, both of which could negatively impact Chris’ clients.
Chris knows though, as he rides over potholes in the street, that the technical accounting expertise needed by his clients is only one piece of the “value puzzle” that the CFO Services team offers to its clients. Bidirectional coaching and development are on Chris’ mind as he pulls into the client’s parking lot.
“We can’t facilitate value until we are coached on understanding the business and its transactions,” says Chris.
In order to do this well, Chris has spent his consulting career perfecting the right balance between his priorities as a consultant and as a coach. Not only is he creating valuable deliverables for the client, but he is also focused on coaching the client to achieve the company’s goals, build upon its strengths, and improve upon its weaknesses.
It’s 7:00AM on a typical Monday morning and Chris Stump is excited to enact change as he walks through the client’s door, no matter the challenges he will face and the potholes he has hit along the way.
Contact us if your business could benefit from the functional coaching or technical expertise of CFO Services.
SOURCE:
Preliminary Details and Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act