News & Insights

When a controller, CFO, or longtime bookkeeper leaves, the vacancy shows up faster than most business owners expect. 

One morning, someone needs approval for a vendor payment. Later that afternoon, the bank asks for updated financial information. By Friday, payroll is approaching and a department manager is waiting on numbers needed for a decision. 

None of those tasks stop because a finance leader retired, accepted another opportunity, or decided it was time to move on. 

For small and midsize businesses, the challenge is rarely the departure itself. The challenge is everything that continues afterward. Financial reporting, cash oversight, lender communication, month-end responsibilities, and day-to-day support for the rest of the organization still need attention while leadership figures out what comes next. 

Businesses that navigate these transitions well typically focus on continuity first. They identify the work that cannot be delayed, clarify ownership, organize key information, and add support when the demands exceed the team’s capacity. 

We’ve found that businesses are better positioned during a finance leadership transition when they focus on a handful of operational priorities early. The steps below can help identify where to start.

1. Start With the Work That Cannot Slip 

During a transition, not every finance responsibility carries the same urgency. The first step is to identify what has to happen in the next few weeks to keep the business operating. 

That usually starts with payroll, vendor payments, customer billing, bank reporting, tax deadlines, and the reports ownership relies on to make decisions. 

For example, if a contractor in Grand Rapids loses his controller just as building season begins, the company cannot wait for the role to be filled before sorting out the essentials. Employees need to be paid. Subcontractor payments need approval. The bank may need updated numbers before renewing the company’s line of credit. 

Setting those priorities helps leadership see where coverage is needed right away and which items can wait. Without that order, the transition gets harder because everything starts to feel urgent at once. 

2. Make Ownership of Each Responsibility Explicit 

Transitions often reveal how much routine finance work depends on habit, memory, or informal handoffs. 

One person may know who approves wires. Someone else knows how the monthly lender package is assembled. Another knows which reports ownership expects before a meeting. When that knowledge is concentrated in a few individuals rather than shared across the team, transitions can expose gaps that were not obvious before. 

For example, when a longtime accounting manager retires after 30 years, the team may realize no one else knows exactly how the monthly WIP schedule or inventory valuation report is prepared. 

During a transition, uncertainty is usually more damaging than imperfect coverage. Every critical responsibility should have a clearly identified owner, even if the arrangement is temporary. Leadership should know who is overseeing cash, who is handling approvals, who is preparing reports, and where questions should be directed when issues arise.

That structure keeps the transition from turning into a guessing game. 

3. Gather the Key Information and System Access the Role Requires 

Following a departure, the business needs to pull together the access, documents, contacts, and working knowledge the role depends on. That includes bank portal access, system permissions, reporting calendars, lender contacts, recurring tasks, approval chains, saved files, and supporting workpapers. 

It also includes the less formal knowledge that keeps the work moving: which numbers ownership watches most closely, where exceptions usually show up, and what tends to slow the close. 

For example, if a CFO leaves and a lender asks for covenant calculations tied to an equipment loan, the team should not have to search through folders to figure out which version is current or who has access to the supporting files. 

The goal is to make sure the business has what it needs to keep core financial work moving without avoidable disruption. The longer that information stays scattered or tied to one departing leader, the harder it is to steady operations. 

4. Decide What Leadership Needs to See During the Transition 

A business in transition often needs a tighter reporting cadence for a period. Leadership needs more visibility while responsibilities are shifting. 

Ownership often wants a weekly view of cash, open receivables, upcoming payables, close status, lender requests, or pending decisions. Department leaders need to know where approvals stand or when updated numbers will be ready. The finance team needs a short list of priorities that leadership wants surfaced right away.  

This becomes especially important when assumptions replace visibility. For example, a manufacturer may land several large orders and assume cash is in good shape, only to discover a few weeks into the transition that receivables have stretched past 75 days because no one was reviewing aging reports closely. 

In practice, a tighter reporting cadence may be as simple as a short Friday update covering cash, overdue receivables, bills due next week, and any requests that still need an owner. That gives leadership a way to stay informed and address issues before they build for several weeks. 

5. Bring in Support Early if the Gap is Larger Than the Team Can Absorb 

Some transitions can be covered internally for a short period. Others create more work than the current team can reasonably manage. 

In those situations, a business may need someone to step into controller duties, keep the close moving, prepare lender reporting, manage cash oversight, or steady the finance team while a permanent hire is being made. 

A family-owned manufacturer that loses its CFO just before budgeting season may feel that pressure right away. Department managers need forecasts. The bank wants updated projections. The owner ends up piecing together financial information instead of focusing on customers, staffing, and production. 

The longer a business waits to address a gap it cannot absorb, the more likely other parts of the company are to feel it. Vendor questions start taking longer to resolve. Reporting slips. More decisions land with owners and operating leaders. 

Added support gives the business room to keep moving while leadership makes longer-term staffing decisions. 

6. Use the Transition to Strengthen the Finance Function Going Forward 

Once the immediate work is covered, the transition can also show where the finance function needs to be stronger. 

That may mean clearer role definitions, better documentation, stronger reporting routines, broader cross-training, or a different mix of internal and outside support. Some companies use the transition to rethink the level of financial leadership they need. Others use it to steady the current structure and make it easier to manage. 

The goal is bigger than getting through the next few weeks. The business needs a finance function that can hold together more smoothly the next time responsibilities shift. 

Next Steps for Businesses  

When a controller, CFO, bookkeeper, or finance lead steps away, the business benefits from a steady response that keeps essential work moving, assigns ownership clearly, gathers the information the role depends on, and makes sure leadership keeps getting the numbers and updates it needs while the transition is underway. 

Maner Costerisan works with small and midsize businesses that need support during finance team transitions. That may include temporary accounting support to cover core work right away, customized financial reporting to keep leadership informed, or CFO advisory services when the business needs added financial direction.