The Math-hate of a CFO

I'll just come right out and say it:  I have a pretty limited skill set.

From the time I was in the seventh grade, my only tangible skills seemed to by my ability not only to be willing to be a public speaker but also to enjoy being a public speaker.  I'm not super awesome at anything else outside of that.

I majored in and attained a bachelor's degree in human communication and I thoroughly enjoy reading or hearing about any topic that has to do with communication.  Trust me, that's not nerdy at all.

I hate math.

Even though I'm confident that the Bible tells us not to 'hate' things, I'm even more sure that hating math is the exception to the rule.  Math is on the axis of evil.  The only thing that weirds me out more than math are people that love math. 

It is safe to say accounting skills are not my strong suit. 

Unfortunately, within my duties as Executive Director, I'm also our agency's Chief Financial Officer. 

Now, before you withdraw your financial support and encourage others to do so as well, let me explain how I overcome a critical deficiency.

I'm not alone in this.  In my experience in dealing with many different administrators from non-profit and social services agencies, I've noticed that there are a lot of administrators that don't like dealing with the finances of the agency.  These administrators work in the human services industry because they love to help people.  These folks move from front line, direct client interaction to administration because their agencies recognize how much they love to help people and how good they are at their job because of their passion. 

Sadly, because the administrator is focused on the hands-on aspect of helping people, they neglect the finances of their agency.  This leads to mismanagement and fraud. 

That being said, the first way that I overcome my lack of financial management skills is to recognize that I have a lack of skills in an area where those skills are critical.  The first step is to admit it. 

Secondly, I'm open with my Board about every single penny that comes into our agency and leaves our agency.  Every donation is reported and every check that is written is scrutinized by our Board.  As a matter of fact, as an increased transparency measure, all of our checks must be signed by not only me but also an Executive Officer on our Board.  Our Board and I examine the following documents every single month, line item by line item:

• Previous month's Profit & Loss statement
• Fiscal Year to Date Profit & Loss statement
• Current Balance Sheet
• Bank-issued statements for each of our checking account WITH copies of every deposit and check written
• Credit card statement
• ANY other financial item requested by the Board

By faithfully examining these reports as a Board, we ensure that (in our case) eight different people authorize every transaction and the overall financial health of the agency.  In being open with your Board, you get support in your financial management of the agency. 

Thirdly, make friends with your CPA.  Ideally, your CPA should NOT be on your Board.  If your CPA is on your Board, there's a chance that the other Board members will not be as diligent in scrutinizing the financial statements because they'll defer to the CPA's knowledge and expertise.  While that sounds fine on the surface, your agency will lose all the benefits as previously outlined in having multiple people address the finances of your agency. 

Our CPA is awesome.  She is not only really knowledgeable but she's a fantastic and willing teacher.  Though her time is extremely valuable, I try to make opportunities to visit with her in person as often as she can.  When we meet, I am always prepared with a list of questions or concerns that I have.  Then, she talks and I listen.  I absorb her expertise and in doing so, I become a little better CFO after every meeting. 

Finally, I read.  I read blogs about financial management.  I listen to podcasts about financial management.  I look forward to any quality learning opportunity that I can use to improve my performance as CFO. 

I can happily report that although I still hate math, I spend a great deal of my time monitoring our ever-changing financial situation.  I give our finances the attention that they deserve knowing that if I mismanage them or make any fatal errors, all the people that I employ and all the people that we serve will reap the fruits of my errors.  I'm a far better CFO now than I was when I arrived here nearly three years ago and I no longer feel nearly as anxious or worried about my financial management skills.  (I still feel a healthy amount of anxious and worried, just not as bad as when I first arrived.)

What about you?  How do you overcome critical deficiencies in your professional life?