Table of Contents
1. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
2. In this episode…
3. Resources Mentioned in this episode
4. Sponsor for this episode…
Laura Shiel

Laura ShielLaura Shiel is the COO at Clara CFO Group, a firm that specializes in offering strategic financial guidance and support to small businesses. With a diverse background in accounting and finance, Laura’s experience spans various sectors, including public accounting, financial services, and corporate finance in a Fortune 500 company. She holds two esteemed credentials in the finance world: she is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). As a fractional CFO, Laura is dedicated to helping small business owners achieve their personal and professional aspirations.


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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [03:25] Why CFO involvement in EOS strengthens connections between finance and daily operations
  • [05:37] What happens when CFOs are excluded from key leadership meetings?
  • [09:46] How fractional CFOs enhance EOS meetings with metrics, forecasts, and insights
  • [13:04] The unique value fractional CFOs bring to leadership teams
  • [17:37] Laura Shiel shares a quarterly rock on creating a detailed three-year financial vision
  • [20:50] Why future profit and loss statements are key for goal-setting in EOS
  • [23:17] When to bring a fractional CFO into EOS for maximum impact
  • [27:13] How to differentiate between needing a bookkeeper, controller, or CFO

In this episode…

Navigating the complexities of growing a business while ensuring financial and operational alignment can be a daunting task. How can small businesses effectively merge financial expertise with strategic leadership to achieve their vision?

According to Laura Shiel, a seasoned financial strategist, integrating a CFO into EOS implementation provides critical financial insight and operational clarity. She highlights how fractional CFOs, by participating in Level 10 meetings and quarterly strategy sessions, ensure that financial implications are considered at every decision point. This alignment fosters efficient problem-solving and sharper decision-making. Laura emphasizes that CFOs bring valuable outside perspectives from working with diverse clients, allowing them to introduce best practices and innovative solutions that elevate the EOS process.

In this episode of the Financial Clarity podcast, Hannah Smolinski speaks with Laura Shiel, COO at Clara CFO Group, to discuss how outsourced CFOs play a transformative role in EOS. They cover how CFOs contribute to long-term visioning, enhance decision-making in leadership teams, and create future financial plans to meet growth targets. Laura also shares her insights on when to bring a CFO into the EOS process and how finance and operations are deeply intertwined in achieving business success.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Special Mentions

Related Episode

Quotable Moments

  • “The CFO being a part of EOS really creates this integration to the rest of the leadership team.”
  • “Having someone with a financial expert lens in those conversations makes the discussion more robust, well-rounded, and gets to resolution faster.”
  • “The reason why you get a CFO is to have someone help you make strategic decisions.”
  • “We’re responsible and expected to always be thinking about the finances and the strategic side of what the business is making.”
  • “If you’re not willing to lean on that role to help you move the business forward, maybe you don’t need a CFO.”

Action Steps

  1. Integrate financial expertise into leadership meetings: Incorporating a CFO into regular leadership meetings, such as EOS L10 meetings, enhances decision-making by ensuring financial implications are considered in all strategic discussions.
  2. Develop a detailed future P&L statement: This exercise helps identify the feasibility of revenue goals and the necessary steps to achieve them, ensuring that growth is both sustainable and profitable.
  3. Engage in regular visioning exercises: This practice addresses the challenge of maintaining clarity and direction, allowing for adjustments that keep the business on track to achieve its strategic milestones.
  4. Leverage broader industry experience: Utilize the fractional CFO’s broad experience with diverse clients to introduce innovative solutions and best practices that may not be immediately apparent internally.
  5. Clarify roles and responsibilities in the accountability chart: This clarity helps overcome the challenge of fragmented financial oversight and empowers the CFO to contribute strategically to the business’s growth.

Clara CFO is dedicated to providing financial clarity and profit-maximizing solutions to small businesses. The team at Clara CFO are seasoned accounting professionals with a heart for small business. We help growth-minded entrepreneurs thrive through Fractional CFO services and financial education.

Whether you’re grappling with hiring decisions, profit margin concerns, or ambitious growth plans, Clara CFO provides insights, recommendations, and a clear financial roadmap to achieve your goals.

To learn more about Clara CFO Group and how we can help your business, visit ClaraCFO.com.