PE-CXO’s Success Stories cast a spotlight on private equity-backed operators and the tools and tactics they leverage to create real value. In each entry, a world-class executive details a practical solution to a critical business issue. To be featured, contact mallory.stokker@pe-cxo.com with the subject line “Success Story.”


Executive: Jon Black, PE-backed CFO

Challenge: Increasing working capital at a company that wasn’t accustomed to analyzing day-to-day operations from a finance perspective. 

Solution: Gathering data, sharing it throughout the company and using it to drive decisions at all levels of inventory, production and sales.

Our transparency went a long way to establishing trust and getting everyone in the company on the same page.

In July 2017, I became CFO for a manufacturer of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. It had been a family-run company for many years and was sold to private equity in 2015. Shortly thereafter, a consulting firm identified several areas in which the finance team wasn’t involved in decision making, which isn’t unusual for smaller companies. My position was created to address a need for greater financial oversight in the company’s day-to-day operations. 

The biggest challenge when I arrived was figuring out how to free up cash on the balance sheet. A lot of cash was tied up in inventory, receivables and payables, and under the new private equity ownership, there was a lot of momentum to implement better sales and operations planning. My goal was to reduce inventory, turn goods around faster and convert more ...