Gorilla Sheet’s Post

Not ready to hire a full-time CFO? No problem. . Think of a CFO as someone who helps your business manage its money wisely, from planning how to grow without running out of cash to figuring out ways to make more money. Here at Bright Line, we act as your CFO for hire. We look at your finances, find the best ways to help you grow and save, and present detailed forecasting to help you make informed choices, all without the big price tag of hiring another top-level executive.

Peak hiring season? We're thrilled to welcome a new Fractional CFO this week and have offers for four exceptional Tech consultants. Two other Fractional CFOs and our Experience Manager have also hit the ground running and are already making a big impact for our clients. Stay tuned for their welcome announcements and blogs once we have a moment to catch our breath. We haven’t even taken them for a new hire lunch and they are sold out? It’s not stopping - We're actively seeking candidates for three more roles: - Ops Manager: see the posting and please share with any qualified candidates (in comments) - Fractional Controller: our trusted recruiter (Amplify!) has us covered. They specialize in Finance Leader hires but we're always open to hearing of exceptional candidates. - Accountant Book-keeper: Amplify will also assist with this role and we're looking forward to hearing about great candidates. Strategically we are keeping an eye 👁️ out for other hiring opportunities, if the right values fit comes along. With spring ⛳️ around the corner and summer 🏖️ not far behind, we're hoping for May or June 1 start dates. We’ve got time ⏰ but we don’t procrastinate, now's the time to make a move!

There are so many benefits to hiring a Finance Director and ultimately, they’ll give you the strategy and support you need to move forward with your business. However, there are some common mistakes SME owners make when it comes to hiring for this role. In this article, we’ll explore what those mistakes are and help you understand how you can avoid them: https://lnkd.in/eqvvQgyU

Don’t hire someone like you This story hits close to home. I experienced this exact scenario at my past company. We had a rockstar CFO, visionary, great with the board, and absolutely crushing every fundraising round. But there was one glaring issue: they couldn’t keep a financial controller. In just 12 months, they burned through three controllers. On paper, each of them seemed like the perfect fit, but in practice? None of them stuck around. When we finally sat down to unpack what was going wrong, it became clear: The CFO was unintentionally hiring 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶-𝗖𝗙𝗢𝘀. These were people who: ▪️Wanted to focus on high-level strategy, not the details. ▪️Loved talking about M&A and equity raises. ▪️Dreamed about influencing the bigger picture. But what the company actually needed was a 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹-𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿. Someone who: ▪️Thrives on process-building and fixing inefficiencies. ▪️Lives for the month-end close and reporting. ▪️Could build the accounting backbone of the company. Instead of complementing the CFO’s strengths, these hires kept duplicating them. That left all the gritty, operational work, the part critical for scaling-undone. Once we shifted the hiring approach and started looking for controllers who had a passion for detail and systems, everything changed. The CFO could finally focus on strategic goals while the controller excelled at keeping the financial house in order. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘵. #Finance #FinancialPlanning #Leadership #Management #BusinessStrategy #CareerDevelopment #Hiring #CFO #FinancialController #WorkplaceCulture

What a great example of building the best team requires diversity. Research consistently shows that building diverse teams leads to increased innovation, better problem-solving abilities, and improved performance compared to homogenous teams. Don't hire people with the same strengths as you! Hire people who complement you in the areas you need to improve!

This CFO hired 3 Financial Controllers in 12 months. But None of them lasted. (Here’s what went wrong) Met a frustrated CFO this month. Brilliant strategist. Great with investors. Crushing the fundraising game. But they had one big problem... They couldn't keep hold of a financial controller. They hired 3 controllers in twelve months. Each looked perfect on paper, but none of them worked out. We had a long chat, and I tried digging deeper into the day-to-day Very quickly, we came to this conclusion… They kept hiring mini-CFOs. People who: - Loved high-level strategy - Wanted to work on fundraising - Dreamed about M&A But that's not what the CFO needed They needed someone who… - Lives for process building - Gets excited about month-end close - Dreams in Excel formulas - Makes accounting their religion So they can focus on needle-moving activities Like the next funding round and strategic partnerships Great reminders for CFO’s… You don't need another visionary. You need someone who loves the details and builds the systems that you need.

If the CFO can't do financial controls and doesn't have CFA/CIMA certification, for whom was he/she hired in the first instance? I have seen BCom or BA graduates are CIO/COO; basically the company needs someone close to the CEO, and then he/she will hire people to do the CIO/COO's job, and he/she will keep the designation as a status quo's and get their big paycheque. He/she will attend events and take all the credits that his/her team is doing, and that's the truth of this world, like "Ms. Sharaf."  We need the qualified and deserving people to hold their position, not a proxy executive. The whole industry culture needs to be changed. DO YOU AGREE?

If Andy Warhol created this piece of art! 🙈 He would use it to challenge traditional thinking of what finance departments represent for SMEs…. It’s controversial, but I sense a common perception in the SME community that finance departments are merely “trusted cost centers, primarily handling back-office functions”. I feel this perception starts to shift at the 50 employee mark. This is when leadership teams start to develop sophisticated aspirations and face complex challenges. It’s also the watershed moment where they begin to think differently about closing gaps with trusted advisors or finance business partners. This dilemma of ROI versus the need for a CFO / Finance Director lingers until the business case is so clear and there is no other option but to hire one. But what if there was a different operating model that challenges the conventional structure of a finance department…. Swipe through to learn more…. From the CFO who simplifies finance for plain sailing

The smartest companies don’t hire full-time CFOs. Why? Because they know there’s a better option. Here’s what hiring a full-time CFO can lead to: ❌ Overhead costs that strain your cash flow. ❌ Resources tied up in one person’s availability. ❌ Missed opportunities to optimise spend and strategy. ❌ Underutilised expertise for small to medium operations. ❌ Paying £100k+ annually—even when you don’t need them. These issues don’t just waste money—they slow you down. Here’s why fractional CFOs are the smarter choice: ✅ Access to top-tier strategic advice without overhead. ✅ Fresh perspectives that drive smarter decisions. ✅ Scalable solutions to grow with your company. ✅ Flexible availability tailored to your business. ✅ Pay only for the expertise you need. The result? Better finances, fewer costs, and more freedom to grow. Do you really need a full-time CFO or a smarter, more flexible solution? P.S. Let’s chat if you’re ready to think smarter about financial leadership.

"Where do you keep finding these rockstar candidates?" That's the question our client, the CEO of a fast-growing SaaS startup, asked us after we helped them fill a critical Controller role. As a boutique recruiting firm, we pride ourselves on our ability to uncover top talent – even for niche, hard-to-fill positions. In this case, the client was struggling to find a seasoned Controller with deep experience in SaaS accounting and FP&A. They had been searching for months without success. That's when they reached out to our team. We tapped into our extensive network of passive candidates and got to work. Within 2 weeks, we presented the client with 3 finalists – all of whom exceeded the job requirements. The selected candidate not only had the technical expertise the client needed, but also the leadership skills and culture fit to make an immediate impact. "I'm amazed at the caliber of candidates you were able to surface," the CEO told us. "This is exactly the type of professional we've been looking for to take our business to the next level." At JL Recruitment Group, we have a proven track record of finding elite talent to power our clients' growth. If you're struggling to fill a key role, reach out. We'd be happy to put our network and search expertise to work for you. #recruiting #accounting #finance #hiring