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When it comes to corporate roles, those of the CEO and the accountant couldn’t be further apart. The CEO thinks big: grow the business, wow the market, motivate employees to do their best. The accountant thinks small: record transactions, run payroll, close out the books at the end of the period.

Both ways of thinking have their place. Think too small, says the CEO, and we’ll squash innovation and lose market position. Think too big, says the accountant, and we could overreach and pay the consequences on the way down.

Sometimes, these two ways of thinking co-exist in a harmonious way that strikes a balance between business competitiveness and fiscal prudence. Other times – not so much.

Tensions often arise when a company starts to experience significant growth pressure. As a small, tightly knit company unit – before the growth, that is – roles tend to be defined and personalities well established. Operations – and opportunities – exist on a small enough scale that differences between CEO-thinking and accountant-thinking have little if any significant impact.

But when companies start growing, gaps can emerge. How much do we spend on expansion? Do we really need a factory in Cincinnati? You want to spend how much on a new engineer?

Here, it is important to be clear regarding the definitions of corporate roles. What can be said about the CEO holds equally true for VPs, seconds-in-command, and the sales team. In place of the accountant, it is equally valid to talk about the controller, the treasurer, or even bookkeeper. The point is that when growth opportunities present themselves there is often a disconnect between the business types and the financial types.

Enter the CFO. The CFO is as equally concerned with sound financial stewardship as with business viability and competitive advantage. The CFO, in other words, can act as the bridge between the business and financial sides of the company.

The problem is that for many companies on the cusp – those just starting to grow – hiring a CFO with an executive-level salary is beyond their means. This is where the lean CFO – working on a part time basis – adds exceptional value. Working on a part-time basis but over the course of a long term relationship, such a CFO brings years of experience to bear on both the business and financial decisions an organization makes as it seeks to navigate the challenges on the road to growth and success. The result is sound business strategy built on a solid financial foundation.

Remember when the idea of lean manufacturing hit the business press in the 1990s. It seemed to spread like wildfire. Today it’s firmly rooted in the zeitgeist of the business world.

Part of its success has to do with the power of the idea itself. According to Wikipedia, lean manufacturing is “a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination.”

As far as business logic goes, that’s close to unassailable. Try sitting in a meeting and arguing to the contrary: “I think we should waste a lot of time and money on products our customers don’t want. Can I have my promotion now?”

One measure of an idea’s power is the extent to which it can be used beyond its original context. Here lean manufacturing pays off in spades. Lean procurement, lean construction, lean logistics, lean software development – even lean government. For the business world in general, the important part is not so much “manufacturing” as it is “lean.”

Lean principles can also be applied to corporate roles – and for many companies, the role of the chief financial officer (CFO) is a perfect candidate. Some companies need to trim down: perhaps they have a CFO but they’re not getting the value they need. Others need to beef up: perhaps they need a CFO but don’t have the resources to add one as a full time position. Either way, the lean CFO can help.

According to the Wikipedia article cited above, “lean is centered around preserving value with less work.” This describes the essence of the lean CFO idea – though I would replace “preserving value” with “adding value.” The lean CFO adds value both at the accounting level and at the strategic level – helping companies to get their financial house in order while also helping to define priorities and take financial action to realize business objectives. This runs counter to the idea of the CFO as an executive-level bean counter whose primary responsibility is to rein in spending. Fiduciary duties and financial risk mitigation remain a vitally important part of the lean CFO’s job description – but these responsibilities are approached with a mindset that asks: How can I help increase performance, enable innovation, support growth and improve overall business health?

Oh, and did we mention that the lean CFO works on a part-time basis – perhaps just a couple of times a week? That’s the lean part. For small and mid-size companies, this is a proven model – one that I‘ve been using for years. The CFO Connection has many clients with relationships that extend more than a decade. The simple fact is, many companies need the financial acumen and strategic vision of an experienced financial officer. What they don’t need is someone to attend endless meetings, engage in office politics, cruise the cubicles, and figure out how to use the office copier. And they don’t need the salary overhead. What they do need is more value with less work – and that’s what the lean CFO delivers.

Stay tuned for future CFO Connection blog entries. We will be exploring other aspects of the lean CFO as well as a wide range of issues relevant to the world of business and finance.

The CFO Connection