Hiring the right financial team is essential to meeting your short and long-term business goals. As your team manages the bottom line, it’s critical that you source, select and staff top-level talent that can literally be trusted with your future.

The makeup of your financial team will vary depending on the size and nature of your organization. But here’s a snapshot of key positions and their qualifications.

 
Chief Financial Officer

Your CFO works hand-in-hand with your CEO to lead the company in meeting its ongoing business objectives. A great CFO is a natural strategic thinker and an integral part of creating a world-class executive team. This must be a person you trust both as a money manager and a leader.

The role of a CFO typically includes:

  • Managing and overseeing all aspects of an organization’s financial operations. From cost control to increasing efficiency in processing to monitoring all financial reporting, your CFO holds final accountability for this aspect of your business.
  • Steering a company through new financial waters. Such changes could include mergers, acquisitions or initial public offerings.

Qualifications include:

  • An MBA or minimally a four-year degree in finance, accounting, economics or business administration.
  • Career experience at lower financial management levels.
  • Knowledge of how to raise capital and take responsibility for a business organization as it grows.
  • Excellent analytical, interpersonal, listening and communication skills.
  • Focused experience in your industry is a best-case scenario.

 
Controller

The primary responsibility of your Controller is to manage financial reporting including shareholder communication, business forecasting and budgeting.

Look for these qualifications in controller candidates:

  • An MBA or Bachelor’s Degree in finance or accounting.
  • Additional CFA, CMA or CPA certification as an added measure of competence.
  • Industry-specific expertise.

 
Certified Public Accountant

A CPA is a valuable team asset as they assure your company functions in compliance with state and federal regulations including tax payments and filing issues. Your CPA interacts directly with the government and legal systems and is required to abide by strict licensing and certification mandates.

  • Be sure your candidate holds these credentials and ideally has some experience with your specific type of business, i.e., LLC, partnership or sole proprietorship.

 
Additional Roles

Your financial team may also consist of a more specialized accounting staff and/or a bookkeeping staff. The latter is comprised of entry to mid-level employees who track sales figures, invoices, expenses, and accounts payable and receivable.

As you strategize and define a plan to build the best financial team for your business, reach out to the financial staffing experts at Magellan Search & Staffing. If you are looking for financial recruiters in Philadelphia, contact our team today.