This post was originally published in January 2023 in The Secret CFO’s Newsletter. I’m experimenting using Substack to share some ‘classic’ newsletter posts from the archive. If you like it … please share it, and I’ll do more of this!
I knew that I knew my stuff.
But still, I was nervous. This was my first high profile Group CFO role.
I had all the pieces of the puzzle, I’d done my time in every corner of finance, and I was confident I could put it all together. But this was no ordinary CFO role, it was a monster turnaround.
Time was of the essence. That meant it wasn’t enough to do the right things… things must happen in the right order.
I had 2 weeks until I was due to start.
I knew I would uncover some skeletons in the closet. I just didn’t know what, where and …most importantly, how much.
The Company was over leveraged and would be dead in 12 months without open heart surgery. And if the Company failed, 20,000+ people could lose their jobs.
It was like building a 1,000 piece 3D puzzle, but the pieces needed to be placed in a certain sequence. All against the clock.
I needed help. I needed a mentor. One who had walked my shoes before.
I got lucky. Through a former boss I met Adam (not his real name). Adam had been CFO for a giant public company for 10 years. A real rockstar. He was now winding down into a ‘plural’ career as Chair of several public companies.
I met him in Starbucks. We sat for 2 hours and together wrote a plan for my first 90 days.
That plan became my North Star for the first 3 months in my new role. It worked, and became my first 90 day template ever since
And now I’m going to share it with you, my crispy buddies…
Let’s start by breaking the first 90 days into 4 phases
Before Day 1
First 7 Days
First 30 Days
First 90 Days
Objective: Immersion in the facts
To Do List: READING!! (Sample document list below)
Board Papers for last 18 months (including sub-committees)
Latest financial plans (Strategic / Multi Year Plans, Annual Budget, Latest Forecast)
Latest performance (Management Accounts, Rolling Monthly Cashflow Forecast, 13 Week Cashflow Forecast)
Capital structure (Summary of all Debt & Equity Instruments including terms, covenants, etc)
Finance department (Org Chart, Functional KPIs, Reporting Calendar)
Reward (Top X Salary List, Bonus Structure)
Review your induction plan
Outcomes:
Identify any burning platforms. Things that need addressing inside your first 90 days. I.e. those that need managing alongside your induction.
Build a master list of business issues (nested bullet point format)
Identify the most important contacts (internal and external)
Map the issues to the stakeholders and build out a list of questions for each stakeholder.
Feed the above back into the induction plan
Objective: See the business up close, but on your agenda
To Do List:
Have an introductory call / town hall with your -1 and -2 reports.
Work in the business for a minimum of 2 days. Get your ass in the operation. No better way to feel the texture of the business.
Spend a day with the CEO. Build rapport, and understand their vision.
1 on 1s with all your direct reports. Get to know them and what motivates them. Try and hold off from sharing any observations at this stage. Listening mode only.
Get hands on with one live big issue in the business, try and be useful.
Outcomes:
Understand the business
Build a common understanding with your closest 5-6 contacts (CEO, and direct reports)
Objective: Listen and hear all relevant points of view. Surface ALL issues.
To Do List:
Give your direct reports, all cross function peers, and CEO the opportunity to bring out the dead. One time only offer.
Meet all the key internal contacts, including board members, department heads, -2 reports
Observe the monthly reporting and performance management cycle. Attend all business review meetings, etc.
Attend the board meeting. Verbally communicate initial observations. Set them up to expect your full findings in first meeting after your 90 days finish
Put a ‘hello’ call into all key external stakeholders
Build a business wide balance sheet risk and opportunities list
Build a view of the likely performance range for current year profitability and cash delivery. Is this in line with current Board understanding?
Risk assess the ‘bring out the dead’ list. Often the issues aren’t as bad as the person thought. Occasionally they are much worse.
Watch cashflow forecast accuracy. What is the root cause of forecast variances. You will learn lots from this.
Outcomes:
Write a memo to yourself covering; top 5 issues facing the business, and facing finance
Current Year out-turn review (Revenue, EBIT, Cashflow). Where do you think performance will be against the budget you have inherited?
Identify if there are any skeletons in the finance closet to brief the board on. A one-time opportunity to reset your start point in the new role.
Objective: Make judgments and build execution plan
To Do List:
Get into the day to day of the day job
Build your 90 day review document. This should synthesize everything you have discovered so far that is important. The format, content and tone really does depend on the issues. But as a minimum you should cover; Initial expectations vs reality, Key issues and how to address, What’s working and whats not in finance, a reality check on the numbers / performance
Communicate your 90 day plan to; Board (making sure you don’t blindside the CEO), your team, and the business.
Define your meeting and reporting cadence
Meet all key external contacts face to face; banks / lenders, shareholders, credit insurers / agencies, auditors, key advisors, appointed counsel. Reset their expectations on the business if necessary
Meet all finance in small groups. Let them put a face to your name.
There will inevitably be cashflow critical decisions that can’t wait out your induction. So the key is fidning the right balance between diving hard into urgent issues, while also giving yourself the distance you need to get broad perspective and context.
You are only new once!
So choose your own adventure… but this framework should steer your plan for those crucial first 90 days.
What are your top tips for onboarding as a newly minted CFO? Share in the comments below.
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