SOFR
Weekday3.92%+0.02 pts vs prior day
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Soft launchServices coming soon
At the lower middle market company, the CFO already owns IT. The team was not built for it.
We build the Office of the CFO for sponsor-backed companies: the roles, the people and the workflow, with more capability in every seat.
Manufacturing, distribution and services.
Point of view
At a lower middle market company, the Office of the CFO includes IT.
At a lower middle market company, the CFO owns IT. The ERP, the data, the systems budget and usually the IT lead all report to the CFO, because there is nobody else to report to. The seat converged years ago. The team under it did not. Finance people were hired to close the books. IT people were hired to keep the lights on. The work in between has no owner.
| Finance leaders who rank technology skills as their top priority | 46%, up from 20% in 2021 (AICPA & CIMA, 2025)1 |
|---|---|
| Finance staff who can build or change their own tools | 15% (Gartner, 2026)2 |
| Finance and accounting leaders paying more for AI skills | 82% (Robert Half, 2027 Salary Guide)3 |
| Finance and accounting hiring managers with the talent for their priority projects | 6% (Robert Half, 2026)4 |
We are asking CFOs and operating partners at sponsor-backed companies how they are handling it. We also build the teams.
Fill a reqDesign the role
Staffing firms fill the req they are handed. We start with what the seat has to produce. Then we decide what a person should own and what a system should, and find someone who can do both. The gap runs both ways. 44% of middle-market finance leaders say their tech experts lack finance knowledge. 40% say their finance teams are uncomfortable with technology (Cherry Bekaert, 2025)5.
Parachute inBuild and leave owners behind
Restructuring firms leave when the project ends. We build the function, hire the people who will own it, and set it up to survive the next deal.
Software companies sorted this out years ago. Manufacturers, distributors and services firms are sorting it out now.
Every add-on is a finance integration and a new org chart. We build back offices that can take the next acquisition and still hold up at the sale.
We know which hires the sponsor remembers at exit.
Sources
- AICPA & CIMA Future-Ready Finance survey, 1,446 respondents, December 2025. Link
- Gartner press release, 1 July 2026. Gartner does not disclose a sample size. Link
- Robert Half 2027 Finance and Accounting Salary Guide. Link
- Robert Half survey release, February 2026. Link
- Cherry Bekaert Middle Market CFO Survey, 2025. Link
- Ramp AI Index with Accordion, 2026. Ramp customers only. Link
The numbers
Data as of Oct 26, 2026This week's numbers
Prime rate
Weekday7.00%0.00 pts vs prior day
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10-year Treasury
Weekday5.00%+0.04 pts vs prior day
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CPI, year over year
Monthly3.7%+0.4 pts vs prior month
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Jobs report
Monthly+29K
payrolls, monthly changeUnemployment rate4.2%
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ISM Manufacturing PMI
Monthly[pending]
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ISM Services PMI
Monthly[pending]
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Middle market M&A
[set with the source][pending]
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F&A talent market
Weekly106.1+1.4 vs prior week
Accounting job postings on Indeed, Feb 1, 2020 = 100[one line in our voice]
Finance systems
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AI in finance and the back office
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PE middle market
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The study
Who runs the back office? Finance, IT and the Office of the CFO at sponsor-backed middle-market companies.
We are asking 200 CFOs and operating partners in manufacturing, distribution, services, consumer and healthcare how finance and IT actually work at their companies. Contributors see their answers against their peers before anyone else does.
[study sign-up form, wired in Session 4]
Sign up here. We send the questionnaire by email.
Notes
[notes coming soon]
Services coming soon
Finance and accounting, IT, and back office. Three ways to engage.
Interim
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Direct hire
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Project delivery
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Sectors
- Professional and business services
- Manufacturing
- Industrial distribution and building products
- CPG
- Healthcare services
- Business and field services
- Insurance brokerage and wealth management
Want to talk before launch? [contact email]