I understand the challenges organizations face during a vacancy in their CFO role. I work with the senior leaders and the finance team to maintain and improve critical systems, processes, and reporting, as well as assist the organization in recruiting and selecting the ideal candidate to fill the vacancy.

Small and mid-size organizations often don't have the resources to support a full-time CFO. In such situations, I can improve financial management through strategic and operational expertise such as budgeting and planning, financial analysis and evaluation, staff and Board training, compliance, and forecasting, all at a lower cost than hiring a full-time CFO.

I bring industry best practices to the budgeting process that enable the organization to develop and maintain a robust, reliable budget for one or multiple years. My approach builds on your management’s deep knowledge of their programs, activities, and funding relationships in order to develop a useful tool that captures and articulates the underlying assumptions, relationships, and operational realities of your organization. I employ a similar approach to developing project or grant budgets, ensuring that they align with the overall budget.

From cash flow to financial performance, I assist organizations in planning for the future. We develop tools and communications pathways to gather and organize data that will help you to identify and anticipate key opportunities and risks with sufficient lead time to take action.

Is it difficult to get timely and accurate financial reports? Is the accounts payable workflow cumbersome or frustrating? Is it a challenge to stay current with invoicing? I work with your finance team to identify and address the bottlenecks, redundancies, or hidden gaps that are eroding efficiency and undermining trust in the financial systems. We will assess your accounting software, workflows, roles, and responsibilities to optimize performance.

It is common for board members and program managers to have limited fluency in reading financial statements and understanding the complexities of accrual-based accounting, restricted funds, and cost accounting. I will work with your board, management team, and staff to raise their financial literacy so that they gain comfort, competence, and confidence in making decisions based on financial information. Program managers will be able to take ownership of their budgets; board members will engage with the financial dynamics of your organization; and staff will understand the financial implications of their daily activities.

Are your financial policies and procedures documented? Do they adequately safeguard your organization’s assets? Do financial staff have clear roles and responsibilities? I assist nonprofits to incorporate industry-wide best practices to address gaps and overlaps that can expose the organization to inefficiencies and risk.

In response to the financial challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government has created the Employee Retention Tax Credit, which can provide your organization with up to $26,000 per eligible employee. I will help you determine your eligibility, calculate your tax credit, and submit the application to the IRS. Time is running out on this program – applications for the first quarter of 2020 are due no later than April 15, 2023.

In order to qualify for an indirect cost rate higher than the de minimis rate of 10% on federal grants, your organization must obtain a negotiated rate. I will help your organization understand your true administrative overhead rate and submit the application to your cognizant Federal agency.

I will help your staff take advantage of the features of Excel to perform analysis and present information in an accessible format. They will learn best practices in building spreadsheets that are clear, reliable, and usable by others. QuickBooks is not built to meet the needs of nonprofit organizations, so I can train your staff on the workarounds needed to record and manage grants and temporarily restricted funds as well as keep your books audit-ready.