At this stage, companies are feeling the limitations of their existing accounting personnel and are evaluating what their next move should be to keep the company moving forward. But knowing whether to hire a Controller or a CFO is a big decision, because, contrary to popular opinion, the roles are distinctly different.

As Kevin Briscoe, the CEO of CFO Selections, explains in nonprofit leadership podcast, “A Controller is ‘walls-in and rear-facing’ and a CFO is ‘walls-out and forward-facing’.” He goes on to explain that a controller analyzes what the company has done already while a CFO evaluates where the company is going next.

Growing up I dreamed about experiencing Mt. Rainier up close and personal. So, it is no wonder that as I came to enjoy hiking in my adulthood the idea of conquering her crept into my mind. Summiting was something I thought about for several years. However, with a limited window to attempt the climb, a very small chance of summiting and the high cost, I ultimately put that dream away.
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Then I remembered an article I read in 2008 about a group of friends who hiked around the mountain on one of the country’s most notable long-distance trails: The Wonderland Trail. This trail had stuck in my mind as a challenging way to experience Mt. Rainier that was far more feasible than summiting. So, early last year I decided to use the excuse of a milestone birthday to set out to hike the trail with three friends. Now, the Wonderland Trail is a 93-mile circumnavigation of the mountain that includes 46,000 feet of gross elevation gain/loss; a large undertaking!

The Boston Marathon. Even non-runners understand that it carries a certain prestige that other races simply don’t. But aside from its cachet in the sporting world, it held a special place in my heart.
 
As a long-time runner it had been on my bucket list for 20 years. Along with most other runners, I never managed to qualify. In fact, after trying and trying I had never even come close. I could have counted myself out and just given up. I mean, I had failed many times before and I certainly wasn’t getting any younger.
 
Something interesting happened as I got older. I actually found myself getting closer to qualifying. With age I learned more about myself – about my body, about my mindset, and about my capabilities. Along the long, hard training road I learned numerous lessons that I have applied to many different areas of my life both personally and professionally. 

​As a fan of Star Trek, one thing I like to ponder about is the concept of time dimensions. Can you be in two points of time at the same time? For many people, living in a pandemic has made the sensation of time change. Things have simultaneously seemed like they happened long ago and also only yesterday. And, at one point or another we have all thought, “It seems like it was years since I saw you. Wait, it has been years!” But time has more than just social implications. The concept of time is relevant to you professionally as well, especially as an accounting manager or a member of an accounting team.
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To have an effective accounting and finance team, an individual’s time view preference must match their job responsibility. If it is not, your accounting operations may suffer, and your company may experience unnecessary attrition. What do I mean? 

The pandemic forced most companies to go remote for what was originally anticipated to be a 2-4 week stint. Over two years later, many companies still have remote employees, at least to some degree.

Hybrid working has become the new normal and small business owners continue to struggle with the added challenges of how to manage remote workers. While office-based businesses have largely adapted to managing a remote workforce, other types of small businesses continue to wrestle with the increased demands of location-divided staff.
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Communication challenges, technology barriers, and access to key information remain difficult among small and mid-sized companies trying to learn how to manage remote teams virtually. If this describes your business, our guide to managing remote workers will give you the tools needed to be successful in this new era: 

One of the most common questions we hear when talking to prospective clients is “How do I know if I have the right accounting team in place?”

Now, the underlying questions wrapped in this broader question can vary to include things like:

• Are our employees’ skillsets the right fit for our most critical positions?
• Do we have enough accounting personnel?
• Where should we be using technology to augment our human capabilities?
• Are all of our accounting and finance needs being met with the roles we currently have, or are there gaps?

​If you are wrestling with these same types of questions, use this guide to determine if you have the right accounting team in place to move your company forward: 

A guest post from Jen Girard at CFO Selections

We get this request all the time. A small non-profit needs to hire a new Finance Manager. Sometimes they call this person a CFO or Controller, but whatever the title, the role is a Superhero who wears multiple costumes and does it all!

How do you find (and afford) this person? Find out how other non-profits are doing it:

​After another difficult year, savvy employers have come to realize that supporting their office staff needs to be a top priority to combat labor shortage woes as financial uncertainty continues. With 85% of employees open to new job opportunities (even if they are not actively looking), employers understand how important it is to proactively work to retain employees.
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As the year comes to an end, organizations are asking themselves, “How can I support my accounting and finance staff next year?” 

In 2011, LinkedIn hit the 100 million user mark and I received an email thanking me for being in the first .5% of members. That means I was somewhere in the 400,000 range of early users. I joined LinkedIn in 2002, back when you needed a member to “let you in.” 

Why did I start using LinkedIn? I had been in recruiting for about three years and knew the power of networking when seeking a job. Furthermore, I recognized the power of a tool where someone could see the work history of people in their professional network.

Fast forward to 2021 and now LinkedIn has more than 750 million members and is where every recruiter goes to find candidates for a position. I am no longer unique as a recruiter using LinkedIn like I was in 2002, but there are not many recruiters who have been using LinkedIn for 19 years.

I see resources all the time on how to create and manage your LinkedIn profile, and I want to chime in on a few ideas that I have observed in nearly 20 years of looking at LinkedIn user profiles. (My focus will be on the CFO position as that is where I have spent my time the last 13 years with CFO Selections, as well as among individuals seeking jobs in the United States.)