The role of a Chief Financial Officer is quite challenging and if it is combined with heading the day to day company operations then it can mean working round the clock. Sascha wakes up at around 6.30 am and is in the office between 8 am- 8.15 am. Sascha’s overlooked skills are his positive attitude and humor. He always comes with a cheerful attitude and no matter what the day is like, he remains level headed and buoyant.
On his way to work today, Sascha checked his emails in the car. “I start checking my emails before coming to work because it helps me plan my day and know in advance what is ahead of me”, says Sascha. He arrived at the office at 8 am and started the day by exchanging pleasantries with some of the employees who start work early.
Within few minutes, he starts checking his calendar to look at the schedule. The first task on his calendar shows planning a shipment for a customer. He does the invoice and looks at the packing list before meeting the person in charge for shipment. The next task on his list is a short meeting with the chief technical officer to discuss induction of a new employee in the shipment department. Around 9 am, Sascha is ready with the list of open invoices. He discusses the task with the finance assistant and goes over the entire list with her. He gets in touch with the sales agent in another location to check regarding a specific payment issue. Just after he finished his call, he joins the meeting with the CEO and the marketing manager to discuss the company rebranding.
The next meeting is at 9.30 with the CEO regarding a new employee. At 10.30 Sascha is working on two new orders which were received. He puts them in the system and personally checks the availability of products and accessories. “I want to make sure our delivery is timely and therefore I personally check if everything is available or we need to order something”, says Sascha.
Since Sascha is also responsible for day to day operations, he sits in an open office and often has employees discussing their daily work related tasks. He has a webcam with a customer located in a different location to discuss some logistic issue.
Sascha joins the staff for lunch and plays a quick game of Backgammon with the chief technical officer which is part of his daily routine at work. “The game is like recreation and I feel more energetic after this short challenge”, quips Sascha. After the lunch break, Sascha is back at his desk sending invoices to customers. He has meetings with sales partners, internal employees and conducts a short training as part of induction for a new employee. He does some brainstorming with an employee regarding warehouse organization and ends the work day replying to all the pending emails.
Sascha leaves work at 6 pm and spends the rest of the evening with his family. Today he is looking forward to a good football game which he can watch laying on the couch before going to sleep.