Category: The Accidental CFO
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The Accidental CFO – How to Think Like a CFO (Even If You’re Not One)
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. With over 20 years of experience transforming and stabilizing finance functions, I’ve seen exactly what drives growth and what silently destroys it. You don’t need a finance degree to protect your business, but if you want to survive the current economic climate, you have to stop…
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The Accidental CFO – The Death of the Annual Budget
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. Running a business on a rigid annual budget in 2026 is like driving while looking in the rearview mirror. Economic risks are shifting overnight. In March 2026, most economists anticipated the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates. Following a sudden oil price shock, inflation spiked to…
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The Accidental CFO – The $3 Trillion Private Credit Reality Check
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. As traditional banks operate under tight capital constraints, corporate funding is rapidly migrating. Founders are increasingly finding their friendly local commercial banker can no longer extend their runway. Instead, they are flocking to the booming $3 trillion private credit market. But here is the reality check…
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The Accidental CFO – Automating a Mess Just Gives You a Faster Mess
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. Every finance leader is feeling the pressure from their CEO or board to “implement AI.” The rush is on to buy the shiniest new FP&A copilot and let the algorithms take over the month-end close. But here is the dirty little secret the software vendors won’t…
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The Accidental CFO – Why You Can’t Outgrow a Broken Balance Sheet
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. For a decade, the business world operated in a financial hallucination. We applauded companies for buying a dollar of revenue for $1.50 and enthusiastically called it “capturing market share.” When money was virtually free, top-line growth could paper over almost any operational disaster. Today, the bill…
