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This article was co-authored by Taunya Conte and Alan Docherty.
In this video, Austin-based Consulting CFOs Alan Docherty and Taunya Conte discuss how businesses can overcome financial and operational challenges amid today’s economic uncertainty.
Uncertainty is a business baseline today, not an exception. That’s the message from Austin-based fractional CFOs Alan Docherty and Taunya Conte, who work with businesses to address the financial, operational, and strategic hurdles that arise in a volatile economic climate. In this conversation, we explore challenges and opportunities companies are navigating, how smart businesses are responding, and get a view of the start-to-finish flow of a recent notable engagement.
Alan Docherty
Consulting CFO
Alan Docherty is a veteran Consulting CFO, bringing with him more than 35 years of experience. He is a senior finance, IT, and operations executive with significant experience in strategic transformation, corporate finance, and value creation.
Taunya Conte
Consulting CFO
Taunya Conte is a highly skilled Consulting CFO with more than 15 years of experience in financial operations, mergers, and acquisitions. As a CFO, Taunya has focused on building relationships, from executives and new hires to investment bankers, clients, and vendors.
What are some of the main across-the-board challenges you're seeing leaders and organizations contend with today?
Alan: Right now, there's a higher-than-normal level of uncertainty - what's going to happen ultimately with tariffs, signals that inflation might not be fully in check, volatility concerns with materials and logistics - just lots of uncertainty in the business climate generally.
One near universal thing we tend to see at vcfo in discovery with a new organization we’re advising is a heavy focus on building solid sales and operations functions but not enough attention on the back office (e.g., controllership, accounting standards, compliance, etc.) – those functions that are vital for a smoothly running business but typically aren’t customer facing. We describe that as “back-office deficits” or “back-office debt” that rises to the top of the initial triage list.
Additionally, if a CEO or owner wants to grow their business, they will need the cash flow to support that. We help our clients optimize their capital structure and obtain new sources as needed. This can range from negotiating better terms for existing facilities to replacing high-cost debt with lower-cost alternatives, to issuing or retiring equity.
How do you see current macroeconomic factors impacting operations and decision-making right now and down the road as the year rolls on?
Taunya: Current macro factors in focus right now (e.g., inflation, interest rates, trade policy, labor shifts) all tend to erode profits and, more importantly, cash. From the CFO seat, our job is to make recommendations for things you can change for the better to mitigate those macro factors you lack power over.
Now is the time to thoroughly assess your current and planned expenses, existing processes, and cash position, and then make swift adjustments as needed. Make changes as soon as you see and confirm significant shifts to protect your company's ability to continue meeting customer needs, regardless of the ultimate direction of the macro winds. You can’t fight inflation, set global trade policies, or do much when your note goes up a few points. You can, however, exert control over select expenses and operational efficiency.
Is there an engagement you’ve led recently that illustrates your goal of helping companies overcome financial, operational, or market challenges they’re facing?
Alan: A good example is a distributor and manufacturer I consult with that has an agreement with an offshore contract manufacturer, which produces a branded product for them. They've worked with this partner to develop a new and more feature-rich product line at a lower cost than their traditional product line. The challenge is that the offshore and branded-for-you nature of the relationship requires significant prepayments, particularly in the product’s early stages. The company's Net 60 terms with existing vendors and prepay Net 60 terms with their contract partner resulted in a 120-day swing in their cash conversion cycle – a significant impact on a relatively small business.
We had to be creative to effectively finance that swing and navigate the potential subjectivity of their product to tariffs. Bringing in pre-tariff products enables the organization to carry more inventory and realize outsized profits on that inventory once the tariff takes effect. It also provides flexibility so that if competitors raise prices, their company can do the same but will be selling at a lower Cost of Goods Sold.
In addition to increasing pre-tariff product inventory and shortening the cash conversion cycle, we worked with the company’s bank to secure a 15-year amortization term loan to support this new capital structure and inventory level, which will be worked down over the second half of the year (coinciding with their busy cycle).
Is it harder for CEOs & owners of small- to medium-sized businesses to see the reasons for and ways out of these challenges than it is for a fractional CFO?
Alan: Generally, yes. It’s often tough for CEOs and owners to see the forest for the trees because they tend to get pulled into the day-to-day weeds of running the business, especially when cash gets tight. That's where we entered with the distributor and manufacturer I spoke of. Our first step with them after discovery was to build a 13-week operational cash flow forecast that clarified their position and formed a better basis for decision-making. Beyond one quarter, things tend to drift because of variables that will impact the business change (e.g., tariffs on/off, rates up/down, opportunities won/lost).
Our team has held CFO roles on average for 20+ years before joining vcfo. As fractional CFOs, we've gained additional expertise in alternative paths for addressing a wide array of challenges, drawing on experience from helping others navigate similar issues. We also have sufficient distance from the company's daily operations to offer purely objective and unbiased perspectives that remain unclouded by emotion. It's especially satisfying to bring big-company solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses.
What untapped opportunities or advantages do you see for small- and medium-sized businesses right now?
Taunya: Alan touched on creativity earlier. An advantage that small- to mid-sized businesses have is the ability to be nimble and change direction quickly when operational and market conditions make it advantageous to do so. Layers of approvals and bureaucracy make it such that the “big ship” of a large business can’t easily turn around in the harbor. You can, as a small- to medium-sized business, so make that work to your favor. If you see something that needs to be addressed, fix it, and fix it fast.
Alan: No business is perfect. In most cases, there are so many upside opportunities for small- to mid-sized companies, making it a matter of prioritizing what levers to pull first. Seemingly minor adjustments can make a big difference. For example, some of what we do is process management. If you see gaps in areas such as order-to-cash or procure-to-pay processes, tightening those up can be huge in eliminating inefficiencies and strengthening controls. You never want people in the business to be put in a position where they could do something untoward or adverse by accident.
Uncertainty can be paralyzing. What do you wish more CEOs and business owners understood about leading through uncertainty?
Taunya: When you started your business, you didn't ask or wait for permission. You had an idea, came up with a plan, and acted on it. Get back to that mindset. I also think that leading through uncertainty requires CEOs and business owners to lean on their leadership team because no one has the right answer… and it's likely going to take contributions and insights from across the entire team to find a creative solution. Form your plan, highlight any weak points, and have the courage to say “I don't know the answer here” wherever that’s the case.
Communication is also key amid uncertainty - not only with your leadership team, but the greater organization. Reassure teams and individual employees that despite not knowing for certain how the chips are going to fall with things we can’t control, we have a plan and are controlling all that we can. We’ll adjust that plan where warranted, we need the team to stay engaged, and we will keep all apprised of where things stand. Effective communication recognizes the present but focuses on the future and prevents unnecessary worry or rumor mills that can harm company culture. Trying to navigate external factors isn’t helped by internal strife.
Focusing Forward
No one knows for sure where interest rates or trade policies will land in the months ahead, but businesses don’t need absolute certainty to move forward - they need clarity, flexibility, and a plan. That’s where experienced fractional leaders can be of great help. With perspective, objectivity, and deep operational insight, CFOs like Alan and Taunya make intelligent and informed decisions — even in turbulent times. Stay tuned for more conversations from vcfo’s regional offices, where we continue exploring the financial and people strategies shaping business success in 2025.
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