Supporting the Office of the CFO Since 2000
The dot-com era was in full swing, and two Boston-based Coopers and Lybrand (now PwC) auditors – Nick Nardone and Shane Caiazzo – were right in the thick of it.
Everywhere they looked, they saw quickly growing companies eagerly – and rightfully – focusing on the things that drove the most value for their business.
What they didn’t see was the expertise within these companies needed to meet all of the changing and complex accounting standards of the time – revenue recognition, stock compensation and derivative accounting.
The pair knew they were perfectly capable of providing that expertise, but as auditors, they were encumbered by independence restrictions.
It was with this realization that the concept for CFGI practically revealed itself to them: What if someone brought that finance and accounting expertise to the office of the CFO outside of the auditor relationship?
It was a simple idea, so simple, that it’s almost incredible no one else had thought of it up to that point. Nick and Shane knew it had legs, and they officially set out to make a new type of company, one that would fill a gaping void between the office of the CFO and external auditors.
CFGI – a firm that puts Big Four expertise to work for the office of the CFO in a non-audit capacity and with a roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on approach – was born.
The rest is history
CFGI hit the ground running in 2000 and quickly had its hands full.
When it wasn’t supporting dot-com era CFOs with finance and accounting consulting, interim management and other technical-accounting needs, it was helping companies adjust to the newly enacted Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
In the meantime, it also became a leader in assisting companies through the IPO process, helping with audit-readiness, valuations, tax and SEC reporting. (In total, CFGI has handled 100s of IPO’s nationally and over 50% of all of the IPOs in the Boston area.)
Whatever the CFO needed, CFGI could achieve it.
While the business was founded in Boston, Nick and Shane knew that CFOs everywhere had these same needs – and so they began expanding, now having offices that serve all major cities in the U.S. and the capability and experience of working with clients around the globe.
As CFGI grew into a national brand, they turned to private equity (circa 2014) for help along the way. One thing led to another, and soon CFGI had forged a partnership with one of the most well-respected private equity firms in the world: The Carlyle Group.
Writing the next chapter: Business growth and service expansion
With support from The Carlyle Group, eight offices across the U.S. and over 500 former Big Four professionals, CFGI is staying true to its mission to:
- Meet the critical needs of the CFO.
- Serve their global clients at a local level through an expanded CFGI footprint.
That first point is particularly important. The role of the CFO is constantly evolving. Responsibilities have expanded beyond regulatory compliance and into the realm of strategic, operationally driven projects – robotic process automation, cloud technology, data and analytics, just to name a few. We are in a unique time where the culture of optimization, that has always existed, is now met with the tools to enable a long-term trend toward digital transformation.
CFGI is the leader in bringing these service offerings and capabilities to its clients and will be a partner with the CFO to guide them through this transformational journey.
Because there are only two constants in the office of the CFO.
Change, and CFGI.
