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S Venkat, Co-Founder MyCFO

It is that time of the year when you as entrepreneurs or finance professionals will be planning the budget for FY17 – 18. Having helped over 300 companies with their Budgeting and Business Planning process over the last 5 years, the MyCFO team has put together this blog to help you get more value out of this exercise.

Here are some pointers that will help you plan more incisively and get an output which is not just an excel spreadsheet but gives you a real shot at moving your organisation in the right direction at the right pace. As part of this new year’s new resolutions, make your budget reflect where you want your business to go and how you want it to grow. Take a conscious step back; see where you are and then, move on to see where you want to be. Or where you can be. Your budget is a map. Here are some pointers as to how you could draw it.

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Deepak Narayanan, Co-founder, MyCFO

This piece is not about start-ups and young entrepreneurs.

Its about the investors who are wooed by businesses and pump money into the Indian business ecosystem. It is about ‘Investor Delight’ which is not equivalent to appeasement. It’s about making them quote your company as one of the positive examples in their portfolio which can only have a positive spin off for all concerned.

India is the third most preferred economy by venture capitalists and private equities. What businesses need to understand is that Venture Capitalists and Private Equity investors are seeing potential in India, yet, they are looking at more mature and sound businesses/ ideas. After the head over heels rush a couple of years ago, investors are being cautious. They are beginning to understand that the growth spurt of start-ups has slowed down and businesses are beginning to settle down and find their niches. These developments need to be communicated to investors regularly by CFO’s and founders so they are well informed.
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S Venkat, Co-Founder MyCFO

Today’s CFO is more than the custodian of the investor’s wealth and a conduit to the Board of Directors and share-holder community at large. The modern CFO aligns with the CEO as an equal partner to increase profitability and improve cashflows while providing operating and financial metrics to measure business performance.

A CEO is the one who has a long-term vision and uses the metrics to deliver on the agreed direction, pace and quality of business growth. To become a CEO is not every CFOs ambition. Those who want to, and make the cut to the corner office, are individuals who have a vision for the organization. They can think beyond ‘generating numbers’; they ‘apply’ them to the business and get results. Needless to say, other CXO’s are in the running for the corner office, but the CFO is getting more and more preferred for this role. But a CFO has stronger connects with the Board and investors, and therefore is already aware of their expectations. Besides, he also has a sound grasp of processes, solid understanding of the levers that move the business and close working relationships with all functional heads in an organisation. With the external business environment becoming more volatile and uncertain, data driven decision making are at a premium. Since the CFO has access and understanding of all these, he/she is being preferred more and more to maintain a steady state of the business.

CFOs also have the ability to translate business performance into a language that is understood by investors. With the proliferation of PE and VC funding and with primary markets looking up again, the ‘articulation’ provided by the CFO is an attractive attribute to look for in the CEO candidate. Continue reading →

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