Background
A company that had recently been acquired by a PE company did not reach the profitability requirements. The owner wanted to strengthen the management team with an Executive Interim CFO who could implement the right measures to improve the profitability.
Assignment
Within nine months, the organization was going to be transformed from a division within a listed group to a legal independent group with operations in 14 countries. The interim CFO would lead the development and securing of the company’s financial function, processes, and reporting, with a focus on business management and cash flow optimization. In parallel, all head office functions within IT and finance were to be recruited. There were also plans to grow quickly through acquisitions. One of the major challenges was that there was an urgent need for modernization and improvement of financial follow-up systems. The modification or purchase of new cash management tools needed to be managed, which required immediate priorities.
Results
Reflections by the Executive Interim CFO
“I was interviewed on a Thursday and started the assignment the following Tuesday. The assignment has been both stimulating and demanding, with a lot of hands-on work. I have had similar assignments in large and small organizations before and could quickly understand the critical facts. The priority was to create a team that focused on the right things in the right order. I created a project team within IT, accounting, business control, and insurance. Together with the CEO, we quickly analysed which new follow-up measures and competencies that were needed. I reorganized the team and brought in external skills. The assignment has given me many new experiences and I stayed for 12 months to have time for a handover to the new permanent CFO. It was my first but certainly not my last interim assignment.”
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Björn Henriksson, CEO of Nordic Interim
+46 8 503 855 00