August 25, 2014

David DeWolf on the Contemporary CFO in Entrepreneur Magazine

“Hire people who are better, smarter, and more experienced than yourself.” Those are the words of wisdom shared by 3Pillar CEO David DeWolf in a recent article for Entrepreneur.com titled “How CFOs Have Evolved From Bookkeeping Into Corporate Leaders.”

In the article, David talks about the need for a contemporary CFO to be, above all, a business leader who has the ability to go beyond the traditional role of being just a “numbers” person. He adds that today’s CFO is the right hand of the CEO and therefore has to take on the mantle of additional responsibilities to set in motion the CEO’s corporate vision.

David outlines some of the responsibilities that modern-day CFOs need to incorporate in their day-to-day duties. Some of these include developing deep business insights by focusing on trends, forecasting, keeping an eye on key performance indicators, building a strong organizational culture, and formulating brand and strategy to ensure business sustenance.

For any company or an entrepreneur, hiring their first CFO is often a make-or-break decision. David believes that an ideal candidate for a CFO position is typically someone who begins with a strong background in public accounting who moves into the finance function over a period of time, and then leverages his or her leadership prowess to excel in the chosen domain.

David discusses the hiring of 3Pillar CFO Maria Izurieta and the meticulous process he went through to zero in on the final candidate. Read the full article to hear more about the process and David’s thoughts on what makes a successful contemporary CFO.