The CFO resigns. The business is growing faster than the current team can keep up with. Or perhaps you know you need a controller, but you’re not sure what skills the role actually requires.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Recruiting a Business Controller or Financial Controller is one of the most challenging searches – and often one of the slowest.
Why Isn’t Recruitment Always the Answer?
There are certainly applicants for good positions. But finding the right person takes time: interview rounds, personality tests, reference calls. Months pass, and in the meantime, daily operations run at half capacity – or don’t run at all.
For company leadership, the question is ultimately simple: how do we transform financial data into decision-making support, and who will do it? Does it require a permanent employee or another solution?
Interim Controller: An Alternative You May Not Have Considered
An interim solution means an experienced professional who joins the company for a fixed term – often with just one week’s notice. They are not an intern or a consultant who leaves behind a PowerPoint and departs. They do the work.
In practice, this means you immediately gain access to a controller who has performed similar work in multiple companies. They quickly identify what works and what doesn’t. They bring tools and insights that internal recruitment may not necessarily provide.
An interim controller also helps clarify what skills you truly need. If the role is new, they define the scope of responsibilities through practice – not theory. Within a few weeks, it becomes clear whether you need a full-time resource or if a part-time solution would suffice.
And when the project or need ends, what happens then? You shake hands and express gratitude. No termination processes, no reputational damage, no unnecessary bureaucracy.
Who Is Interim Right For?
An interim controller is the right choice when you need expertise quickly, want to test the role before permanent recruitment, or when it involves a defined development project. It is not a competitor to recruitment but a parallel alternative – and often they work best together.
Cherry – Experience on Demand
Cherry’s pool consists of achievers, growth accelerators, and hands-on professionals. In addition to expertise, they all have solid experience in similar roles and are ready to take action immediately.
Contact us to learn more.
