what are financial questions to ask a ceo in an interview

How to find that great side by side CFO task? Here is one tactic that you might overlook merely should non: Interview your hereafter boss, the CEO, as if he or she were the job applicant, not you.

Because when it comes to your career, knowing as much as possible upwardly front about the company and person y'all might work for is probably more important than dazzling them with your résumé, presentation skills, and personal charm. Nobody, most of all you, wants that supposed dream job to plough into a nightmare, and one that ends with a rude awakening — another job search, and a lot sooner than you lot'd thought.

Too, CFOs can rightly feel emboldened to question the CEO, who probably needs you as much as or more than yous demand the job, according to Eric Rehmann, co-managing director of the financial officers practice for recruiting house Korn/Ferry International. (Rigorous due diligence, albeit on your own behalf, should impress whatsoever savvy CEO, anyhow.)

"There aren't enough good CFO candidates to get effectually," says Rehmann. "The best ones have multiple choices."

While a few straight-forrad questions are obligatory and possibly useful, you'll probably discover the most revealing information about your prospective CEO and system through indirect questions — that is, those that announced to be about one topic but actually are meant to elicit information about some other.

And rather than ask questions that invite abstract, non-specific answers, become down to cases. Whenever you tin can, ask for examples of how the CEO and organization dealt with existent-life situations.

"When they tell stories, they tell you a lot," says executive coach C.J. Liu, principal of My Whole Life, and a former CFO herself.

To fully understand the pregnant of those stories, and other answers, a CFO chore candidate needs "two antennae: one to process the facts and the other to process feelings and impressions. Both are critical to get a complete picture," says Jonathan Schiff, a Fairleigh Dickinson University accounting professor and founder of the Finance Development and Training Institute, an alliance of 15 global companies dedicated to deepening the bench force of their finance organizations.

In other words, heed carefully for the subtext, or unspoken message, in the CEO's responses.

And last simply not to the lowest degree, a CEO's answers probably won't do you much proficient, Schiff points out, unless you offset enquire yourself a few tough questions. "The first step," he says, "is to know yourself; then notice the right match. Sometimes that understanding of ane's cocky is defective."

To assist find the best fit for that next job, here are nine questions to ask the CEO:

1. What were the strengths and weaknesses, or what did you like and non like, about the former CFO, both in your working and personal relationships, and what are you hoping to alter with a new hire?

Some CEOs tin't adequately articulate what attributes they're looking for in a new CFO or what kind of relationship they want with a new finance chief, co-ordinate to Rehmann. This question probes that issue for details. "You're on more neutral ground talking about a 3rd party, but yous're even so getting granular detail about the CEO'southward day-to-24-hour interval relationship with the CFO," he says.

2. What critical business decision, or 2, did you lot make over the past few years, and what role did finance and the CFO play?

The answer to this question will pointedly tell you whether the CEO considers the CFO a strategic partner or the head numbers-cruncher.

3. Which financial statements practice you lot focus on and how often practise yous read financial reports?

The CEO'due south answer tin reveal how much or petty a commuter of business organisation decisions finance is and thus the CEO's view of finance's function in the arrangement. A CEO who reviews monthly reports and focuses on cash period and turn a profit margins is more than likely to consider the CFO a strategic partner, considering in such an organization, Liu says, "The CFO needs to deliver on shareholder value." A CEO who skims quarterly reports with an eye to potential illegalities probably depends on finance and the CFO mainly for compliance.

4. Tell me about a conflict within the arrangement and how you handled it.

The reply to this question tin can tell you a lot about a CEO's leadership manner, whether the CEO'south approach to conflict is competitive, collaborative, or avoidance, co-ordinate to Liu. Whether the answer satisfies the CFO depends on the CFO's comfort level with any particular style. Y'all may adopt a boss who makes decisions without as well much discussion and moves on, or ane who seeks buy-in from key participants, including the CFO. Collaboration can, of course, sideslip into avoidance, with no conclusion, or a poor one, ultimately being made.

5. Who are the fundamental outside advisors influencing major decisions? And what'south the role of any exterior accounting firms — what functions exercise they perform?

Frequently CEOs rely on outside advisors such as a former company CEO, a management consultant, or maybe even a spouse. Yous'll desire to know who else has the boss'due south ear, and the quality of that advice, before accepting the job. Every bit for outside bookkeeping firms, does the CEO utilize an exterior firm for auditing and other traditional accounting functions, or does the CEO lean on the agency, like a crutch, to weigh in on business decisions? If it's the latter, that's probably a bad sign for the incoming CFO.

6. What are the company's top business organisation goals, what's the strategy to achieve them, and how are y'all adjusting your strategy in light of current market conditions? And related to that: Who are your major competitors, why, and what is your arrangement's competitive advantage?

These questions are designed to test the CEO's business organization acumen. How well does the CEO understand his or her ain business organization and concern environment, and how well can the company compete? Y'all should know the basic answers to these questions going into the interview; you don't desire the CEO to recall you didn't exercise your homework. And so information technology's best to preface the question with a statement indicating that you know the basics but would like a more in-depth discussion.

seven. How many new SKUs (stock-keeping units) accept you launched in the past year or two, and what new stuff in the pipeline?

This question gets to the pace of change and innovation in a visitor and in fact whether the company genuinely embraces change, says Schiff. (SKUs are common in consumer-product companies, simply the concept can be practical to other companies by asking: How many new clients/customers have been acquired? How much fundamental-customer attrition have yous experienced? Is the quality of client/client improving?)

viii. What are lath and investor meetings like? Smooth sailing, or rough? And what pressures do you face from major shareholders?

The answer, Liu says, probes a major consequence that CFOs face up: the pressure to utilize accounting gimmicks in financial reports to brand a company'south earnings and overall fiscal picture look better than they really are. "The more intense the climate, the more pressure there is to cook the books," she says.

9. May I speak with the former CFO?

How else will yous actually find out where the bodies are buried?

sturmforrie.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.cfo.com/human-capital-careers/2008/09/nine-things-to-ask-your-future-boss-the-ceo/

Share this post