Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Role Summary

The CFO is responsible for overseeing the financial health and strategy of the organization. They manage cash flow, financial planning, risk management, and investor relationships, playing a critical role in shaping company strategy and ensuring long-term sustainability.

Required Education, Certifications, and Experience

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field (required)

MBA or Master’s in Finance or Accounting (preferred, especially for companies preparing for M&A or public markets)

Certifications:

  • CPA (Certified Public Accountant) – highly preferred
  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) – beneficial
  • Certified Management Accountant (CMA) – helpful in operational finance-heavy roles

Experience:

10–20 years in finance, accounting, or investment roles;  At least 5 years in executive finance leadership  such as VP of Finance or Corporate Controller

Experience managing audits, raising capital, M&A, or IPO processes is highly valued.

Core Skills

  • Strategic financial planning & forecasting
  • P&L ownership and cost optimization
  • Cash flow and working capital management
  • Investor relations and fundraising strategy
  • M&A diligence and integration
  • Financial reporting and GAAP/IFRS compliance
  • Tax strategy and risk management
  • ERP and FP&A systems (NetSuite, SAP, Adaptive, etc.)

A Hypothetical Day in the Life of a Chief Financial Officer

6:00am – Financial Snapshot & Industry Pulse: You start your day reviewing an automated dashboard sent overnight showing previous-day spend across warehousing, linehaul, and fuel. You also scan diesel futures, FX rates (for cross-border clients), and logistics M&A news to prep for an investor call later today.

7:00am – Commute & Cost Optimization Call: On your drive to HQ, you speak with the VP of Procurement about surging pallet costs and a renegotiation opportunity with a national supplier. You give the green light to explore a bulk buy agreement and reallocate unused capex funds from a delayed fleet upgrade.

8:00am – Executive Sync: You join the CEO, COO, and CTO for the daily leadership standup. The COO reports missed warehouse throughput targets and you flag the potential budget variance. You recommend reallocating labor dollars temporarily from overperforming regions.

9:00am – Carrier Margin Review: You sit down with your FP&A team to examine contribution margins by carrier and lane. One regional partner is consistently underdelivering on margin due to surcharges. You ask for a risk-adjusted model for potentially replacing them next quarter.

11:00am – Vendor and Contract Audit: You meet with Legal and Accounts Payable to review outstanding vendor contracts. Several logistics tech providers have auto-renewing terms. You propose moving them to quarterly reviews tied to actual performance against KPIs.

12:00pm – Working Lunch with the Controller: You eat in while syncing with your Controller to prep for the Q2 close. You confirm timing for reconciliations, discuss write-downs on aged pallets and WMS overages, and finalize a plan to handle an overage charge dispute with a 3PL.

1:30pm – Investor Call: You brief a logistics-focused PE fund on your margin trends, customer churn rate, and upcoming automation investments. You reframe rising labor costs as part of a proactive retention strategy with predictable ROI.

3:00pm – Facility Cost Analysis: You review a regional facility’s per-order cost and notice a sharp rise tied to overtime spend. You draft a short memo for the COO suggesting a labor cap and shift redesign, and suggest evaluating automation leasing versus full CapEx.

4:30pm – Treasury & Risk Check:
You call the bank to discuss extending your working capital line to handle a surge in seasonal volume. At the same time, your Risk Manager flags that a recent weather disruption cost the company $48k. You explore freight insurance policy riders to hedge future events.

6:00pm – Wind-down and Board Prep: You head home but spend the evening reviewing the latest board deck draft. You tweak a chart to highlight how better fleet fuel tracking is offsetting wage inflation and prepare to field questions on warehouse depreciation schedules.