Interim Finance Director in Industry – Case Study

Whether it’s to overcome a difficult milestone, manage a crisis or carry out a complex operation, calling on an interim CFO can be very beneficial. When to call on this professional? What is its role and what is its added value for the company? Through this case study, we look back at a transition mission of a CFO commissioned by WAYDEN for an industry player.

 

Interim CFO: what is its role?

A real business partner of the manager, the CFO (Administrative and Financial Director) plays a key role in the company. It is indeed guarantor of good financial health and responsible for defining and implementing its financial strategy. He or she carries out missions of various kinds: financial, accounting and legal management; control of financial risks; management of accounting and tax compliance, etc.

The interim CFO is an external professional with a decade of experience in financial leadership roles. He intervenes directly within the company, within a very short period of time and for a period defined beforehand (generally ranging from 6 to 18 months), in order to resolve a targeted problem relating to the company’s financial situation.

 

When to use the services of an interim CFO?

Here are some examples of situations in which to use an interim CFO:

• Temporarily replace a CFO who has left his or her position or has to be absent for a long period of time (following a resignation, sick leave, retirement, etc.);
• Improve the company’s financial performance;
• Ensuring financial crisis management ;
• Optimize the administrative and financial management of the company to meet cash flow challenges (reduce costs, optimize working capital requirements – WCR, renegotiate receivables, etc.);
• Managing delicate financial operations: mergers and acquisitions, financing searches, buyouts, tax compliance, complex negotiations with key accounts, etc.

The transitional CFO is equipped withIndustry expertise proven in the relevant industry (Industry, e-commerce, luxury, nuclear…),An outside view and multiple soft skills (adaptability, listening, sense of leadership, natural authority, audacity, pragmatism, etc.). These assets allow him to respond to all types of problems, by bringing quick and concrete results at the end of the mission. Featuring a Operational excellence, he identifies, as soon as he arrives, the challenges and sources of dysfunctions within the company and accurately targets the corrective actions to be deployed.

 

Interim CFO: Our Industry Case Study

Our interim management company WAYDEN supported a joint venture, created in 2020 by another entity and specialising in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. The company’s ambition was to deliver the highest level of technology on its products, while democratizing access to electric mobility.

It therefore had to be more agile, particularly in the areas of R&D (Research and Development), industrialization, mechanical design, and in the performance of tests and prototyping, among others.

In addition, the client, which already has gigafactories in Germany and Italy, wanted to develop its international presence, particularly in the North American market (United States and Canada).

To support these high-growth objectives, the COO was looking for a CFO with multi-disciplinary skills who could manage the North American market.

To meet this need, WAYDEN has identified a hybrid CFO, with both corporate and operational expertise.

This professional has 4 years of experience in financial auditing and experience as a financial controller for an automotive supplier. He also has to his credit A long experience as administrative and financial director for the IPO of a company specializing in the supply of lithium batteries.

For this reinforcement mission, the interim CFO was responsible for creating the business plan for the North American market, looking for investors across the Atlantic, and studying and deferring local subsidies.

In addition to these strategic missions, he also had to manage several daily responsibilities inherent to his position, including: the creation of an operating account for the project; the analysis of working capital (WCR) and investment needs; the development of an annual and monthly cash flow plan; the calculation of the project’s profitability indicators; and the preparation of the asset-liability balance sheet of the internationalization project ; analysis of the project’s profitability potential; the identification of possible solutions to strengthen profitability, etc.

 

Are you looking for an interim CFO to support a period of strong growth, overcome a delicate milestone or secure a delicate financial transaction?

Our interim management company WAYDEN, with a large pool of highly qualified interim managers, identifies for you a CFO specialized in your sector of activity whose expertise, interpersonal skills and profile are perfectly in line with your needs and expectations.

Contact us to find out more.