During our recent Community Conversation, the discussion focused on the differences between three key financial roles: CFOs, Controllers and Bookkeepers, and how they collaborate with one another to develop a financial strategy.
The event featured a case study of Tandem client Crisp Media, with its founder & CEO Christine Pilkington joining to tell the story of how her team worked with Tandem to build out a fractional finance and accounting team over several years of growth. Tandem Network Members Idalin McKenzie, CFO, and Colin Fleming, Controller/Bookkeeper, joined as well to illuminate just exactly what role each plays in a growing company.
Over the course of the conversation, we gained a rich overview of these three functions:
Bookkeeper Function: The bookkeeper’s role focuses on transactions and managing day-to-day financial operations. It requires technological proficiency and a data-driven mindset, reconciling all financial activities provided by the administrator to the correct month.
Controller Function: The Controller has a pivotal position between bookkeeping and strategic financial management – aka, the work of the CFO. Their responsibility lies in interpreting financial data, designing cash flow projections, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
CFO Function: The CFO has a dual focus on operational efficiency and strategic planning. As storyteller and strategic leader, the role provides leadership in aligning business goals and financial strategy, seeking out capital and making capital-related decisions. A good CFO understands each operational function and the landscape in which the business operates.
While collaboration among these roles is critical to the overall performance of a finance and accounting team, they are distinctly different in their required skill sets.
While bookkeepers focus on maintaining accurate financial records, controllers dive deeper into financial analysis and compliance, and CFOs provide strategic direction, leadership and oversight.
To learn more about each of these pieces, you can watch the full event recording here:
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