Great Lakes CFO, LLC

Better Finance, Better Results

Better Finance, Better Results

At Great Lakes CFO, we believe that purpose drives profits. Our mission is to help companies and organizations thrive through better finance and positive business strategies.  We believe that great organizations drive the health and prosperity of people, communities, and our planet and that strong financials are essential to the ability of an organization to create positive change in the world.

 

Our Services

Fractional CFO Services

We offer full accounting and CFO services for organizations that require less than a full time resource, and for those that prefer to focus on their core competencies while working with Great Lakes CFO to provide these strategic services.  We help you focus on growing your business, while we manage your accounting functions and provide strategic Controller & CFO level support. We provide these services in both a on-site and virtual engagements.

A clear understanding of your organization’s finances enables your leadership team and associates to make the timely decisions needed to win in the marketplace.  We help you develop high value financial reports and models, as well as consistent and professional financial reporting that helps you communicate with external stakeholders.  Our experience in developing activity based costing and pricing models provides clarity as to where cost and profit comes from, which leads to improvements in your organization’s overall cost structure and an understanding of the types of products and customers that drive your profits.

 

Strategic Support

Today’s CFO is a key partner in the development of winning business strategies.  We can help you navigate today’s evolving strategic landscape.  Many small organizations lack the full spectrum of human capital needed to develop and execute a well rounded, fully considered strategy.  Larger organizations often benefit from an outside perspective.  We establish long-term partnerships with your leadership team – accelerating the growth of the organization and the success of your functional leaders.

Managing the strategic and financial processes often reduces the ability of leaders to fully participate in those vital discussions, and many organizations find significant value in allowing an outsider to lead such processes.

At Great Lakes CFO, we are here to help you create greatness in your organization.

 

 

Positive Business

Most organizations lack a clear vision or tools that help all staff understand and run the business.  Some see employees as a means to an end, even as people from whom they need to protect the company.  The best partner with their associates in running  the business.  They work together to develop a clear vision of the future, the understanding of which allows all associates to make decisions everyday that impacts the company and its bottom lines in positive ways.  The best develop and report upon key financial, operational, and stakeholder metrics regularly.  Some even adopt open book management, which magnifies the impact of associates throughout the organization.

At Great Lakes CFO, we strongly believe in positive business practices and are constantly seeking to learn and implement new knowledge that will help our company, and our clients’ organizations thrive like never before.  We invite you to join us on this journey.  We would love the opportunity to work with you to help your business have a more positive impact on your associates’ lives, the health of the your community and the planet, and certainly your bottom line.

About Great Lakes CFO

Community Commitment

We are proud to support the health of the world in which we live.  We love the natural world and highly value our ability to live and recreate in the Great Lakes region, and want to leave a better planet to future generations. We are proud to be a 1% For The Planet member company, and to work with 1% For The Planet nonprofit partners like  the Huron River Watershed Council and Friends of Island Lake State Recreation Area.

We are thankful to have access to abundant healthy food, and understand there are many who are not as fortunate as we are.  Food Gatherers (another 1% For The Planet nonprofit) and The Breakfast at St. Andrews are two Ann Arbor organizations that we support in their efforts to alleviate hunger.

As a corporate member of The Ark, we are regularly inspired by the amazing musicians and singer-songwriters who grace this intimate venue.

Beyond these monetary and volunteer commitments, we offer reduced rates for non-profits, so that we may help such organizations thrive with their limited resources.

We also value the role that small, growing companies have in our community and are committed to helping such companies thrive.  As a 1% For The Planet member, we offer reduced rates for our fellow members, and welcome growing relationships with our peers throughout the country.

Community Commitment Goals

We know that it is easy to pledge support, and we know that when something truly matters, keeping score elevates performance.  To that end, we have the following goals:

Volunteering Goal – 100 hours per full time associate

Financial Support Goal – 2% of revenue

Reduced Rate Services Goal – 20% of billable time

 

Our Team

 

 

Tony Pitts, the Founder of Great Lakes CFO, has over 20 years of progressive experience with small to mid-size companies.  Prior to founding Great Lakes CFO, Tony served as CFO & COO of a mid-sized private label consumer and automotive chemical manufacturing and distribution company, where he provided direct leadership to the company’s leadership, finance and supply chain teams.  Tony earned a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Wayne State University, and holds a current CPA license in the State of Michigan.

Tony believes in the positive impact successful businesses and organizations can have on their entire ecosystem – customers, suppliers, employees, owners, the community, and the planet.  As more and more research demonstrates the benefits of positive business philosophies, he is excited about the opportunity to help others implement such practices.

As a lover of nature, Tony enjoys quiet time outside in the woods, on the river, and in the many scenic public parks our country has to offer.  He serves as the Treasurer and Trails Coordinator of the Friends of Island Lake State Recreation Area in Brighton, and led a project to build a new five mile hiking trail in the park in 2016.  As a stewardship volunteer with the Huron River Watershed Council, his favorite way to help is through working with chainsaws to help keep our creeks and river navigable for canoes and kayaks.  New in 2018, Tony will be  helping out at the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy as a Finance Committee member.

Tony loves to travel to the quieter parts of our country, and usually tries to find someplace natural to visit in all his business and personal travels.  He shares some of these experiences as well as the photographs he takes on Instagram (@theforgetfulwanderer) and his personal blog, The Forgetful Wanderer (www.theforgetfulwanderer.com).

Recent News

Recent Posts