Carrie King

As a CFO, I’ve participated in board meetings that meaningfully moved the company forward and others that fell short of their potential. The difference is rarely the quality of the board itself; it’s how management prepares for and uses the meeting. In this article, I outline practical ways leadership teams at venture-backed companies can turn board meetings into a real operating advantage accelerating decision making, sharpening strategic alignment, and elevating the overall board experience.

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PE-backed CFOs mistakenly treat nailing their yearly budget as their north star. But for sponsors, the real priority is equity value: spending the (right kind of) money to make more money at eventual exit. ​ See how CFOs can take advantage of tariff-related deal delays and elongated hold periods to drive equity value for exit down the road: https://lnkd.in/eZFw_uPP

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Most CFOs learn the business from the inside. CFO Alex Melamud of Engine learned it from both sides—years in investing, a dozen boards, then the leap into the CFO seat at Engine. In our full conversation, he gets specific about what changes when finance is measured by signal, not noise: why he checks NPS first, how a usage-based model forces better daily pacing, and why capital allocation is really about “the next dollar” and incrementality. And many more insights along the way LISTEN HERE: https://lnkd.in/eFqT9zQ6

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As founders and finance leaders kick off 2026 planning cycles, understanding when (and whether) to defer expenses is more strategic than ever. Expense deferral isn’t just about pushing costs out; it’s about aligning expense recognition with value delivery to support clearer financials, smoother tax planning, and stronger investor confidence. Done correctly, it helps preserve cash and improve runway without bending GAAP or IRS principles. But misapplied deferrals can distort performance, complicate reporting, and trigger unwanted scrutiny. Smart teams treat deferral decisions as part of a broader financial strategy that balances short-term liquidity with long-term clarity. In Deferring Expenses: When It Makes Sense (and When It Doesn’t), Rooled’s CFO and tax experts share practical guidance on expense timing that helps startups enter the year with cleaner books, better forecasts, and greater confidence. LINK: https://ow.ly/AOTE50XXGAm #Accounting #CFO #Tax #Finance #Startup #AI

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The CFO has become more of a quarterback for the team. That's how Travis St. Ores describes the evolution of financial leadership. Gone are the days when the CFO stayed buried in spreadsheets and month-end closes. In today's middle market and private equity-backed businesses, the CFO is often the person: Driving strategic alignment across departments Translating financial data into actionable business insights Enabling leaders with the tools they need to execute effectively In this episode of CFO Weekly, Travis explains how he's navigated high-growth scenarios, complex turnarounds, and M&A with one principle in mind: lead from the back, but steer the ship. Tune in now. 👇 #cfoweekly #moderncforole #middlemarketfinance Apple: https://hubs.la/Q03qplxw0 Spotify: https://hubs.la/Q03qpgWp0 YouTube: https://hubs.la/Q03qpDYq0 Comprehensive Logistics

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Models are only as good as their assumptions, and varying assumptions can drive massive differences in valuations. That's why the judgement of a skilled practitioner is so valuable. It is one thing to build a model and another to understand what are accurate base level assumptions and the potential range of the same for any business undergoing a valuation.

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Wearing my technical accounting nerd hat today 😊 Occasionally, I see accountants book expense accruals/liabilities when I don’t believe they should be booking them, so here is my interpretation of the rules: Example: It’s Q4 2025. You’ve just signed your tax engagement letter for the 2025 tax year and your tax advisor has quoted you a fee for their work. No work will be performed by your tax advisor until Q1 2026. You are closing the books for 2025 and you book an accrual for the service fee in Q4 (to “match" the expense to the period it benefits). Seems logical and the correct thing to do, right? Well, here is the catch - Under US GAAP accrual basis accounting, expenses for services are recognized when they are incurred, which is when the services have been rendered or performed by the provider. FASB’s Concepts Statement 6 (CON 6) states that "liabilities are probable future sacrifices of economic benefits arising from present obligations of a particular entity to transfer assets or provide services to other entities in the future as a result of past transactions or events". In this example, since the past event (performing the services) has not occurred as of December 31, 2025, there is no expense to be booked and no liability to be recognized as of the balance sheet date. Perhaps a footnote disclosure for the commitment to pay if they do the work but not a booked liability. The obligation to pay for the services will be created in 2026 when the work is performed and that’s when the expense will be recognized. I know I have many seasoned CPAs and auditors in my network so do let me know please if you have a different view on this.

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Zone just dropped the first-ever 100-Day PE Playbook for CFOs, featuring tips and insights from Zone’s very own CFO, Chad Wonderling. Created in collaboration with other top CFOs and PE partners, this guide is built for action. Get the frameworks, checklists, and real-world tactics you need to focus, execute, and deliver for your board right out of the gate. ➡️ Grab your copy here: https://lnkd.in/gKeW-XE5

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As your startup scales, choosing the right level of financial leadership becomes crucial. But should you hire a Director of Finance or a Fractional CFO? 💡 New on our blog: Jason Anglin, Burkland's Managing Director of Strategic Finance, compares the two roles and helps you determine which is the best fit for your startup—taking into account funding stage, revenue profile, and founder experience. https://lnkd.in/gsFuDi8b #StartupFinance #StartupGrowth #FinancialLeadership #FractionalCFO #DirectorOfFinance

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The growth-stage CFO role is uniquely isolating. As you scale toward IPO, you're expected to deliver operational precision while managing board scrutiny, investor expectations, and rapid organizational change. Every quarter can feel like you're being re-interviewed for your job. The Circle founder, Mark Dempster, joined Megan Weis, CPA, MBA on the CFO Weekly podcast to unpack why peer infrastructure has become essential for CFOs navigating this stage. In the conversation, he talks through: • The hidden isolation of the CFO seat • Why vulnerability among peers is a strategic advantage • How shared “scar tissue” reshapes risk tolerance Listen here: 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/e4MHz6px 🎧 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eiBz6fdF 🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ebnycBi3 The Circle by Founders Circle Capital is a private community built specifically for growth-stage CFOs leading through scale. If you’re in the seat, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Interested in learning more about membership? Explore here👇 https://lnkd.in/g-2Ygves

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If you're building a business, this conversation matters. In our latest Startup 2 Standup® session, Mark Bernstein ACA shared over 30 years of experience as a CFO, founder, board chair and investor and brought everything back to one core principle: Get organised before you need to be. Not when an investor asks for your numbers. ❎ Not when due diligence starts. ❎ Not when exit becomes urgent. Before. We discussed: • Why structure directly impacts valuation • What investors really look for beyond revenue • How governance and clean reporting reduce perceived risk • Why disorganisation quietly kills deals Growth is exciting but organisation is leverage. The full session is now available to watch here 🎥 https://lnkd.in/euMZ_XA8 If you're raising, scaling or even thinking about exit one day, it’s worth your time. Ollie Austen Harry Wyndham Gary Jackson Leigh Jackson #Startup2StandUp #Founders #InvestmentReady #ScaleUp #ExitStrategy #Entrepreneurship #SME

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📈 Succession planning isn't your exit plan. It's your growth engine. Often misunderstood as a path out, succession planning is actually a framework for building in. As Eric Leeper, CFA, CFO, and Principal of FP Transitions shares in this conversation with Rick Kent and Kay Lynn Mayhue, CFP®, AEP®, RFC®, it's your strategy for unlocking sustainable growth and uniting your team around a shared vision. Internal succession, done right, fuels growth, empowers rising leaders, and preserves client continuity for decades to come. 🎥 Watch the full conversation at https://lnkd.in/gky8S4in Merit Financial Advisors Suzanne Siracuse #successionplanning

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“Sorry, that’s out of scope.” If you’ve heard that more than once this year, this post is for you. Most managers are surrounded by vendors: fund admin, outsourced bookkeeping, fractional CCOs or CFOs, outsourced IT, PEOs, and specialized consultants. But when a real issue cuts across functions, the answers you get are usually: “We don’t do that,” or “We can do it…for an extra fee.” Ars Bellica was built for the opposite model. We don’t sell narrow projects or meter our time by the task. We act as a built-in operating partner with a joint-venture mindset: if it matters to your business, it’s in scope. In our latest Insight, we break down: ✅ Why our economics are built around long-term alignment, not hourly rates and change orders ✅ How our integrated platform — finance, accounting, tax, IR, HR, IT, risk, and compliance — replaces a patchwork of siloed vendors ✅ The way we sit in the middle of administrators, auditors, tax advisors, and IT providers as a single point of accountability ✅ How managers retain final decision-making authority while gaining an institutional-grade operating partner If you’re an emerging or maturing manager who wants institutional infrastructure without building a large in-house team, we wrote this for you. 🔗 Read the full article: Ars Bellica Isn’t Your Vendor. We’re Your Operating Partner. https://bit.ly/44QOPkl #alternativemanagers #privateequity #realestate #fundoperations #fundadministration #operatingpartner

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Scaling a SaaS company? Your accounting model matters more than you think. From ASC 606 compliance to investor-ready reporting, SaaS founders face unique financial challenges that traditional bookkeeping can't solve. We break down the pros and cons of in-house vs. outsourced accounting—including: ✔️ When each model makes sense for your stage ✔️ Cost considerations beyond salaries ✔️ How to maintain control while staying lean ✔️ The hybrid path many successful SaaS companies take For most early to growth-stage companies, outsourced accounting delivers faster setup, SaaS-specific expertise, and the scalability needed to support fundraising and growth. Read Martha Eleftheriou, CPA's full comparison 👉https://hubs.la/Q03R6x3T0 #Wiss #SaaS #Accounting #Startups #CFO #Finance

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Private equity isn’t always about squeezing EBITDA—sometimes, it’s about giving the business room to grow. In Episode 218 of The SaaS CFO Podcast, Matt Blumberg (CEO of Markup AI) shares a powerful lesson from operating in PE-backed environments: you can unintentionally starve a company by forcing profitability too early. Mid-market PE is a different game entirely—and knowing when to break the paradigm and invest more to expand the pie can be the difference between stagnation and real scale. A great discussion on growth mindset, capital strategy, and the nuances of PE ownership. Episode 218 is now available, links down below 👇 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gz2i558r Apple: https://rpb.li/tgVFdD Spotify: https://rpb.li/7pwzP5xca #SaaSFinance #PrivateEquity #SaaSLeadership #SaaSPodcast #FounderInsights

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JM Search just released our 2025 CFO Compensation & Insights Study. This report provides exclusive benchmarking data and insights to help companies build competitive compensation packages and understand what drives today's CFOs. Valuable resource whether you're hiring financial leadership or evaluating new opportunities.  https://bit.ly/4mVe2BJ

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