CEO toolkit for uncertain times

As part of our ongoing discussions regarding the current volatile economic climate, we are offering a CEO toolkit to help you manage these uncertain times. This is not a time to guess, and this toolkit will provide you with key questions to begin formulating your plan.  Here are five areas for you to consider today to ensure you have a plan in place:

1.) Cash flow:

• Do you have tools in place to monitor, manage, and forecast your business cash flow?
• How many months of cash reserves do you have?
• How frequently will your cash flow status need to be revisited, and do you have the tools in place to do so? 
• What funding sources are available to you if or when needed?

2.) Forecasting:

• Do you have adequate visibility to predict your future in this changing climate and make decisions proactively? 
• Are your open orders or contracts cancellable and, if so, how can you protect critical client relationships?
• Do you have the ability to manage your backlog? 
• How will the changes impact your bottom line, the ability to deliver on your bonus plan for your team or shareholder value, and are there ways to preserve and protect them?

3.) Expense management:

• Do you have a process in place to streamline, reduce, or postpone your most significant expense items or cash flow obligations? 
• If staffing changes become necessary, what are your philosophies on this sensitive topic?  How do you build loyalty with your top performers without putting the company in financial jeopardy?

4.) Risk management and mitigation:

• Do you have a business continuity plan or a disaster recovery plan in place? 
• What insurance do you have, and what are the deductibles? 
• Do you have business interruption coverage and, if so, does the current situation qualify?  If there is doubt, what is your plan? 
• What happens if critical employees suddenly cannot work?  Are passwords documented for critical sites and are employees cross-trained on critical functions within the organization? 
• As CEO, what knowledge or processes do you have that should be documented for your team?

5.) Communications: 

• When and what information will you communicate to employees, clients and critical relationships such as auditors, bankers or investors? 
• Who is authorized to speak on your organization’s behalf on these matters?
• How do you ensure your communications are “on message” with your corporate mission or personal values? 
• What role do you, as CEO, play in these communications? 

Our CFO consulting firm’s expertise can provide you and your team with significant value as we face these economic uncertainties.  We can provide an assessment of your organization’s sensitivity to these changing times and recommend strategies to help you thrive. Our scalable pricing model allows us to deliver exceptional value to our clients without incurring significant expense or additional overhead.  The peace of mind of knowing you have a plan can make all the difference to your life and to the culture of the organization. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of outsourcing a CFO, visit us at www.cfosp.com, email us at admin@cfosp.com or call 407-426-8288 to learn more.

NOTE:  Given the current evolving economic climate, CFOSP is publishing more frequent communications on this topic based on what our clients are experiencing and our firm’s expertise.  Stay tuned for updates or click here for more content on this topic.