A great Private Equity-backed CFO needs to do considerably more than run finance and accounting.

The best CFOs become strategic partners to the CEO and help drive value creation across the entire business.

At Raw Selection, we assess CFOs against both their track record and their ability to deliver what the portfolio company will require during the hold period.

Some of the key traits and experiences we look for include:

• Revenue and EBITDA growth: They can demonstrate how their work contributed to measurable improvements in business performance.
• M&A experience: They understand the financial and operational demands created by acquisitions.
• Exit experience: They have been through an exit and can clearly explain their actual responsibilities rather than simply having been present.
• Private Equity-backed experience: They understand PE reporting, pace, expectations and accountability.
• Value creation outside finance and accounting: They do not restrict themselves to the finance function.
• Leveraged business experience: They understand the realities of operating with meaningful debt.
• World-class company experience: Exposure to blue-chip organisations can provide strong operating and financial disciplines.
• Strategic business partner to the CEO: They help the CEO make better decisions across the organisation.
• Constraint-focused: They identify the financial or operational constraints preventing the business from achieving its plan.
• Data-driven decision-making: They create and use information that enables management to make better decisions.
• Debt and covenant management: They understand leverage, lender relationships and covenant requirements.
• Acquisition integration: They can help turn an acquisition into actual value rather than simply complete the transaction.
• Builds high-performing finance teams: They develop the function rather than becoming the bottleneck themselves.
• Drives value creation across the business: They can influence operations, commercial performance and strategic decisions, not simply accounting.
• Cash flow and working capital optimisation: They understand how to improve cash generation and working capital performance.

The mistake is assessing a CFO purely on whether they have previously held the title.

The better question is: Have they already solved the financial and business problems this portfolio company needs them to solve?

For a deeper explanation of each trait and how we assess CFO candidates against them, watch the full video: