Senior finance leadership, for as long as the business needs it.
Sometimes the gap is a resignation. Sometimes it is growth that outran the function. Either way the symptoms look the same: reporting the board doesn't trust, a bank asking harder questions, and a finance team patching month-end instead of running it. The mandate is to stabilise first, then fix the cause.
The pattern
A finance function under strain doesn't fail loudly. It degrades. Close takes longer each month. Forecasts get hedged. The owner ends up doing the CFO's thinking because nobody else will. By the time it is visible outside the business, the bank and the auditors have noticed too.
A permanent hire takes time the business may not have. An interim mandate buys that time, and uses it to leave the function stronger than a hire alone would.
The work
The mandate is structured around four obligations:
- Stabilise: cash visibility, month-end discipline, and reporting the board can rely on
- Restore control: the governance, delegations and forecasting rhythm a lender expects to see
- Represent the business with banks, auditors, investors and the board
- Fix the structural causes: systems, team capability and process, not just cover the gap
The outcome
- A finance function the board, the bank and the owner trust again
- Numbers that arrive on time and mean what they say
- A permanent CFO seat worth filling, with a clear brief for the hire and a proper handover
When to engage
When the seat is empty, about to be, or occupied by someone drowning. The earlier the engagement, the more of the mandate goes to building rather than firefighting.
Senior finance leadership needed now?
Mandates are scoped quickly. Describe the situation and Zurak Partners will give an honest view on whether it is a fit.
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