I meet with Brian about once a month at D. Rowe’s in Columbia, Missouri. Before that, I met with his dad at the same restaurant while he was alive. That family relationship dates back to 2001.

I’ve also served another client since 2009. My CFO portfolio has included several clients that lasted more than 10 years.

In short, the CFO business is a relationship business. In my ideal world, the relationship would span about six months, nine at the most. That’s because I love architecture work in this space and solving what Richard Rumelt calls gnarly problems. In short, I’m a project guy. When it ends, I’m on to the next.

My peers call me crazy because they envy my recurring income stream. That’s not my mission. My mission is not recurring revenue streams. If so, that means I’m building a business focused on me. Instead, I Wireframe Success™, and that means people like me always keep the pipeline of new projects full.

Accordingly, I think I can speak candidly and holistically about the term of a CFO relationship with a CEO and her team. Remember, I’m the guy who says 100% of small businesses do not need a CFO (not even a part-timer). Instead, they need something else. Think functions, not titles.

In this brief discussion:

I will remind you why many small businesses are duped into hiring a so-called part-time CFO when a different solution would suffice.
In the cases where a CEO hires a part-time CFO, I’ll explain how long that role should last.
Finally, I’ll explain why CFOs hang on for too long in their roles. Am I being hypocritical since I’ve been serving Brian’s family business since 2001? You should question that, but you’ll get your a-ha moment when I share what my role is.

Before we get started, let’s revisit the four vital roles in finance and accounting (these same four roles apply in marketing, sales, and operations, too).