As the CEO and founder of Archangel Accounting, I am proud to have built a professional and passionate team that delivers CFO level services and outsourced accountancy, primarily to the life sciences sector.
My training with PwC gave me a fantastic professional base from which to grow and discover my talents, and I gained a broad range of experience over many years with key finance positions in industry. Building up to the role of CFO over the early years was especially rewarding.
As a CFO, I feel excited to be part of a company’s management team and be key in enabling a company to grow and establish itself. While it’s important to have a deep understanding of finances and strong leadership skills, I’ve learnt that an effective CFO will bring a variety of skills to the role.
Today, one of the roles I enjoy best is sharing what I’ve learnt and mentoring others to be great CFOs. On my journey, I have found many talented office managers, bookkeepers, and potential CFOs that I have mentored and nurtured to grow their accounting talents. I love to watch and assist this growth and help others realise their potential.
So, what makes a good life sciences fractional CFO? It’s a big question! The following are the things I believe matter and make a fractional CFO relationship for a life sciences company work.
Sector experience
Ensure the client feels they are important and that you respond quickly
Ensure you embed yourself into the team
Manage expectations
Don’t lose yourself in detail to the detriment of the big picture
Stay on task and deliver to deadlines
Use the latest AI tools and software to optimise efficiency
Have a voice; don’t be afraid of tough conversations
Use emotional intelligence to manage all people around you
Organise the team, software and environment for speed and accuracy
Use the same team members, software and controls across all the companies you support – this provides so many efficiencies!
Proactively plan
Enjoy the journey and the people you work with
Always remember the importance of kindness
You can’t keep everyone happy; all you can do is try your best to
Teamwork – a fractional CFO can’t be doing all the tasks; they should delegate, manage, and control so that services are delivered seamlessly!
As part of the team, an effective CFO will bring a positive sense of finance management, be comfortable to influence, mentor, be flexible, be active, and listen. I believe that’s at the heart of success.
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Outsourcing your CFO and accounting function to an established, reputable accounting firm like Archangel Accounting can give life sciences startups the space needed to focus on research.
To find out more about how we can help your life sciences company, just send us a message, and we’ll be in touch.