Private equity (PE)-backed companies move at a different pace. With aggressive growth targets, complex capital structures, and high expectations from investors, the demands placed on finance leaders are elevated from day one. A PE sponsor isn’t just looking for financial stewardship. They want forward-thinking leaders who can drive transformation, deliver data-driven insights, and scale the business to achieve long-term value creation.
At Alliance, we’ve worked alongside countless PE-backed organizations, and we see common traits that make finance leaders indispensable to their sponsors and executive teams.
Strategic Business Partnership
PE-backed companies need finance leaders who act as strategic partners, not just scorekeepers. Beyond producing timely financial reports, the CFO and their team must provide insights that shape business decisions. That could mean identifying margin opportunities, analyzing market expansion strategies, or assessing potential add-on acquisitions. Finance leaders who can speak the language of operations and strategy quickly earn the trust of sponsors.
Driving Operational Excellence
With limited runway to achieve targets, operational discipline is non-negotiable. Finance leaders must be able to tighten close processes, streamline reporting, and implement scalable systems that allow the company to move fast without sacrificing accuracy. Investors expect finance to be the backbone of operational rigor, ensuring every decision is supported by reliable data.
Mastering Business Systems & Technology
Technology is a differentiator in high-growth environments. Finance leaders who can select, implement, and optimize ERP and business intelligence tools create the infrastructure needed to scale. In a PE-backed environment, this often means leading digital transformation initiatives that accelerate integration after a carve-out or acquisition and provide real-time visibility into performance.
Leading Through Change
Private equity ownership often brings frequent change, from new leadership to bolt-on acquisitions to shifts in go-to-market strategy. Finance leaders must be adept at change management, helping teams adapt quickly while maintaining focus on investor priorities. The ability to rally people around a vision while instilling financial discipline is critical to long-term success.
Building the Right Team
Perhaps the most critical role of a finance leader in a PE-backed company is building and retaining a strong team. With compressed timelines and ambitious growth plans, sponsors know that execution depends on the quality of the finance function. Leaders who can recruit top talent, upskill existing teams, and leverage interim or consulting support to fill gaps will create a finance organization capable of meeting sponsor expectations.
Private equity-backed companies expect their finance leaders to be strategists, operators, technologists, change agents, and team builders. It is a tall order, but those who can deliver on these needs set their organizations and themselves up for outsized success.
At Alliance, we specialize in helping PE-backed companies strengthen the Office of the CFO across eight pivotal areas, from business systems and ERP selection to financial reporting, M&A integration, interim support, and beyond.
👉 Ready to strengthen your finance organization? Contact us today to learn how Alliance can help.
