Typical triggers
- Bridging a vacancy: the incumbent CFO has left or is unavailable. Replacing the role takes four to nine months — reporting cannot be the thing that suffers.
- Restructuring: liquidity is tight, banks want credible plans, shareholders expect transparency.
- Transaction readiness: before a sale or an investment the finance function has to withstand due diligence — clean cut-offs, traceable figures, documented transfer pricing.
- Growth: the organisation has outgrown its finance processes. Month-end takes three weeks, forecasts live in isolated spreadsheets.
- System change: an ERP rollout absorbs the entire commercial leadership — day-to-day business needs someone carrying it in parallel.
What I take on
- Full responsibility for accounting, controlling and treasury
- Monthly, quarterly and annual statements under HGB, IFRS and US-GAAP
- Liquidity management, rolling forecasts and cross-border cash management
- Communication with banks, auditors, shareholders and investors
- Leadership and development of finance teams across several locations
- Reporting structures that keep working after the engagement ends
An interim CFO does not advise — they decide and carry the consequences. They sit in the line, hold signing authority or board responsibility, and are the counterpart for banks and shareholders rather than the supplier of a recommendation.
How an engagement runs
- First conversation (no charge). Trigger, expectation and timeframe. About an hour, by phone or video.
- Short analysis. Review of the key documents — last statutory accounts, current plan, finance org chart — resulting in a written assessment with target picture and scope.
- Engagement agreement. Duration, days per week, day rate and objective in writing, including exit terms.
- Delivery. Taking responsibility, with the first two weeks focused on liquidity and reporting capability.
- Handover. Documentation, onboarding of the successor and a defined end point. A good engagement makes itself redundant.
Background
Over 15 years of finance leadership, most recently as CFO and board member of a loyalty specialist and as Finance Director of an international marketing group with around €170 million revenue across ten entities. Full details in the profile and CV.
Frequently asked
When does an interim CFO make sense?
Typical triggers are the sudden loss or departure of the incumbent CFO, a restructuring, preparing or running a transaction, an ERP migration, or growth the finance organisation can no longer keep up with.
How quickly can you start?
Normally within one to three weeks of the first conversation. For urgent vacancies a start within days is possible.
How long does an engagement last?
Typically three to twelve months. Bridging engagements end when the permanent role is filled, project engagements when the objective is met.
Do you work remotely?
Partly. The first weeks belong on site — financial responsibility without knowing the people and the processes does not work. After that a hybrid rhythm of two to three days on site per week is usual.