ELSO Strengthens Financial Leadership to Support a Growing Global Organization

Growing the Organization Meant Growing Its Financial Capabilities

For much of ELSO's history, the organization operated with a very lean team. Executive Director Peter Rycus has been part of ELSO for approximately three decades and, for many years, carried a broad range of responsibilities as the organization continued to develop.

When Christine Stead joined ELSO in 2020, the organization had an opportunity to begin building more structure around its growth. Additional resources were added, responsibilities began to expand across a larger team, and leadership started thinking more deliberately about what ELSO would need in order to operate as a more mature global organization.

Finance quickly became part of that conversation, and it was for good reason.

As the organization became larger and more complex, historical reporting alone was not enough to give leadership the perspective it needed. Christine and Peter wanted greater visibility into financial performance, stronger forecasting, and a better understanding of how financial information should influence the decisions they were making about ELSO's future.

They also recognized that this need called for C-suite financial expertise. Rather than simply adding another layer of accounting support, ELSO wanted a strategic financial partner who could participate in higher-level conversations and help management connect financial performance with organizational strategy.

Building the Relationship From the Financial Details Up

Michon Covington's work with ELSO did not begin by immediately stepping into an executive role. She first worked more closely at the controller level, which gave her the opportunity to learn the organization, understand its financial operations, and develop a detailed view of how ELSO functioned.

That foundation became increasingly valuable as ELSO's needs changed.

When another CFO transitioned out of the organization, Christine and Peter needed more than continuity in the finance function. They needed greater insight into what the financial information was telling them and how that information should influence decisions about growth, resources, and the organization's future direction.

Michon's familiarity with the details allowed the relationship to evolve naturally into a broader fractional CFO role. Because she already understood ELSO's finances and how the organization operated, she was able to help leadership move beyond simply receiving reports and toward understanding the implications behind them.

Reporting was reorganized, financial information became easier for leadership to interpret, and the conversation increasingly shifted from what had already happened to what ELSO should be preparing for next.

Turning Financial Information Into Better Leadership Decisions

One of the most important changes for ELSO has been the ability to connect financial reporting more directly to management decisions.

Christine and Peter needed financial information that could help them evaluate organizational performance, understand where closer attention was required, and plan more effectively for the future. They also needed to be able to communicate that information clearly to a board that expected meaningful accountability and a strong understanding of the organization's financial position.

Preferred CFO helped bring greater structure to that process by improving reporting while also adding interpretation and context around the numbers.

Instead of leaving leadership to determine what a report meant on its own, our team could help explain why a result mattered, what trends deserved attention, and what actions the organization might consider as a result. That executive interpretation has helped ELSO continue developing both its financial acumen and the way financial information is used within leadership discussions.

Board communication remains an area the team continues to refine, with Preferred CFO helping ELSO strengthen the data, messaging, and reporting needed to present the organization's financial story with greater confidence.

More Than an Outside CFO Resource

The value ELSO places on the relationship extends well beyond forecasting models or financial statements. Christine has described Preferred CFO's role as that of a true executive partner who feels like part of the team.

That distinction matters because ELSO wanted someone who could participate in leadership discussions without needing every question or deliverable to be defined in advance. Michon sits in meetings, listens to what is happening across the organization, and is often able to recognize what financial analysis or reporting will be useful before leadership has formally requested it.

For an executive team managing the needs of a growing international organization, having a financial leader who can absorb that complexity and help determine what should happen next has become an important part of the partnership.

Peter has seen the same proactive approach, noting that Michon has provided reports before the organization even needed to ask for them.

“Michon is just absolutely wonderful to work with! She has been forward thinking and presenting us with reports before we even need to ask. Her skills and work ethics make her a fabulous partner.”

          - Peter Rycus, Executive Director, ELSO

Preferred CFO Services for ELSO

Preferred CFO's work with ELSO has included:

• Fractional CFO leadership and strategic financial guidance
• Financial forecasting and forward-looking planning
• Financial reporting reorganization and improvement
• Greater visibility into organizational financial performance
• Financial analysis to support executive decision-making
• Board reporting and financial communication support
• Controller-level financial support during the earlier stages of the relationship
• Executive interpretation of financial results and trends
• Proactive reporting based on anticipated leadership needs
• Continued development of ELSO's financial processes and infrastructure

A Higher Level of Financial Acumen

The most meaningful result of the partnership is not tied to one report, model, or individual financial metric. It is reflected in the way ELSO's leadership now understands and uses financial information.

Christine credits the relationship with helping ELSO reach an entirely different level of financial acumen and understanding of organizational performance. The team has clearer reporting, stronger forward-looking support, and an experienced financial leader who can help connect the details of the finance function with the larger decisions facing the organization.

That progression has been especially important because ELSO is still evolving. Its global reach, lean internal team, and continued organizational development mean leadership must maintain a close view of financial performance while also considering what additional resources and infrastructure will be necessary for the future.

Preferred CFO gives ELSO access to that level of financial leadership while remaining flexible enough to grow with the organization.

Key Outcomes

• Greater understanding of ELSO's financial performance across the leadership team
• More organized and useful financial reporting
• Stronger forecasting and forward-looking financial planning
• Improved connection between financial information and strategic decision-making
• More proactive reporting and anticipation of leadership needs
• Executive-level financial guidance integrated into management discussions
• Stronger support for board reporting and financial communication
• Increased financial acumen among organizational leadership
• Access to experienced fractional CFO leadership without relying solely on a traditional full-time CFO structure

Continuing to Build for ELSO's Next Stage

ELSO's financial evolution is still part of a larger organizational journey. As the organization continues to grow its resources and capabilities, Preferred CFO is helping ensure that its financial infrastructure develops with the same level of intention.

Work continues around forecasting, reporting, financial data, and communication with the board, but the foundation is considerably stronger. Christine and Peter now have a financial partner who knows ELSO well enough to understand the details while also maintaining the executive perspective needed to help guide what comes next.

For an organization whose mission and reach have become increasingly global, that combination of financial understanding and strategic leadership helps ELSO build the internal maturity required to support its work well into the future.

Executive Summary: Fractional CFO Support for ELSO

These are already strong, but I would make a few refinements so the Executive Summary feels more narrative and the At a Glance section does more of the structured SEO/AEO work. Right now there is a little overlap between the two.

I’d use this version:

Executive Summary: Fractional CFO Support for ELSO

The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization has grown from its founding in 1989 into a global organization connected to more than 800 centers around the world. As ELSO expanded, leadership recognized that its financial capabilities needed to evolve alongside the organization, with stronger forecasting, more useful reporting, and greater executive-level financial insight.

Preferred CFO became part of that evolution. Michon Covington first developed a detailed understanding of ELSO through controller-level support, then expanded into a broader fractional CFO role as the organization's needs changed.

That continuity gave ELSO more than additional reporting capacity. Preferred CFO helped reorganize financial information, strengthen forecasting, and connect financial performance more directly to strategic planning and board-level discussions. Over time, Michon became an integrated member of the leadership conversation, helping Christine Stead and Peter Rycus understand not only what the numbers showed, but how those insights could guide future decisions.

The partnership has helped ELSO build a more mature, forward-looking finance function while giving leadership access to the strategic financial guidance needed to support a growing international organization.

At a Glance: ELSO Fractional CFO Case Study

Client: Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO)

Industry: Healthcare / International Nonprofit

Organization: Global organization supporting the extracorporeal life support community and connecting more than 800 centers around the world.

Preferred CFO Services: Fractional CFO Services, CFO Consulting, Financial Forecasting, Financial Reporting, Strategic Financial Planning, Board Reporting and Executive Financial Leadership

Financial Challenge: As ELSO expanded, leadership needed its financial capabilities to mature with the organization. Priorities included stronger forecasting, improved financial reporting, clearer visibility into performance, and executive-level financial guidance to support strategic and board-level decisions.

Preferred CFO Approach: Preferred CFO combined controller-level financial knowledge with broader fractional CFO leadership, helping ELSO reorganize reporting, strengthen forecasting, interpret financial performance, and integrate financial insight more closely into leadership discussions.

Organizational Impact: ELSO has developed greater financial acumen, more proactive financial planning, stronger executive insight into organizational performance, and better support for board communication and strategic decision-making.

Primary Financial Focus: Financial forecasting, reporting, strategic planning, organizational performance analysis, board communication, executive financial leadership