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Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Finance in Your Organization’s Success

Rob Levin
September 15, 2023

Nelson Tepfer, the co-founder and CEO of ProCFO Partners, is here to revolutionize how you think about the CFO role and how it can truly transform your company. In this “Working Better Now” episode, I spoke with Nelson about how he helps organizations build their finance and accounting functions and in turn better companies. His approach is systematic, sustainable, and scalable, which facilitates the growth and goals of each company. He also shared his method for maintaining a fully remote team, and how working with a WorkBetterNow virtual assistant is helping his business.

When it comes to the financial function of a business, I asked Nelson what mistakes he sees most often.

“You’re sitting here looking at this four-page P&L, does this tell you anything about running your business? No. So let’s figure out what it is we do need to know, so we can make the decisions we have to,” Nelson responded.

He explained that no matter the size of a business, effective decisions are vital to its growth. Nelson indicated it comes down to two questions: “What are the decisions you need to make, and therefore, what is the insight you need to make those decisions?”

According to Nelson, companies should be guided by the finance and accounting function, and the information the CFO provides. Nelson said, “It’s more of what you do with that information and guiding you moving forward.”

Nelson also noted there are a lot of companies missing the checks and balances and processes and procedures to avoid theft. Without proper security measures in place, this creates a serious risk. He has seen horror stories and some really sad cases, and the betrayal business owners have to face can be very tough. “The things that worked when you were three people in a basement don’t work when you’re 30 people or 50 people or 100 people in an office,” he said, explaining that a lot of what he does is help organizations “grow up.”

Like WorkBetterNow, ProCFO is a remote-only business, so we discussed how to maintain a great culture in the workplace, while also staying productive. As part of Nelson’s strategy, ProCFO assesses an individual’s fit with the culture and values of his organization, which he believes can often be more important than skill. He acknowledged it is a challenge, but stated culture has to be deliberate.

He said, “When your company is really small, culture is just what happens…but once you start crossing, you know, whatever number of threshold, 10, 20, 30, 40 people, culture takes on a life of its own. And unless you’re directing it, it begins to direct itself, and that can get really dangerous or really horrible for some companies when it gets out of control.”

To maintain the strength of the ProCFO workforce, Nelson holds weekly meetings within each region and quarterly in-person workshops. Each of these strategies helps his team continue to grow.

“We’ve been thrilled with the WBN professional we’ve been working with. Working with [WorkBetterNow] has been incredible,” Nelson said.

Having had a virtual assistant (VA) in the past, Nelson indicated he chose to go with WorkBetterNow because he appreciated the recruitment approach and “hand-matching” we employ. He asserted, “Frankly, you guys knocked it out of the park…[Zaira’s] been fantastic.” Nelson explained his WorkBetterNow VA is constantly looking to do more, and in addition to filling an executive assistant role, she helps with recruiting for our organization and our clients.

Nelson explained the key to success with a VA is effective onboarding. He says it is crucial to effectively onboard, manage, and support a VA for them to be successful.

To learn more about ProCFO Partners and the work they do, visit procfopartners.com.

If you have been considering hiring a virtual assistant, contact WorkBetterNow to schedule a free 15-minute consultation with us!