Interim Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)

A Chief Administrative Officer’s responsibilities vary by organization, but an interim CAO may oversee accounting operations, financial close, reporting, audit preparation, accounting-team execution, and coordination with management. In a transition, the CAO helps preserve continuity, address urgent reporting needs, organize priorities, and support decision-making while the company manages a vacancy, transaction, restructuring, or period of increased demand.

Companies commonly seek interim CAO leadership when an executive leaves, a vacancy extends longer than expected, a new CFO needs execution support, a transaction creates additional accounting demands, or reporting deadlines exceed existing team capacity. Interim support can help maintain close, reporting, audit preparation, and team direction while management determines its longer-term leadership structure.

An interim CAO provides hands-on leadership across the accounting function while the organization addresses the vacancy. Responsibilities may include overseeing financial close, reviewing reporting, coordinating audit preparation, directing accounting-team execution, identifying urgent issues, and communicating priorities to management. The precise scope is shaped around the company’s needs and the responsibilities previously handled by the departing executive.

Yes. Interim CAO support can be useful during acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, ownership changes, and related reporting demands. Stratum Advisory Partners, LLC also provides transaction accounting and post-acquisition support, including purchase accounting, opening balance sheets, coordination with valuation specialists, and post-acquisition accounting and reporting integration when those needs are part of the engagement.

Yes. Interim leadership is often designed to work alongside an existing accounting or finance team rather than replace every internal responsibility. The interim CAO can establish priorities, provide senior review, coordinate execution, resolve complex issues, and help the team maintain close, reporting, and audit preparation. The working model is determined during scope discussions.

An interim CAO may oversee financial close, reconciliations, accounting policies, reporting, audit preparation, accounting analyses, documentation, and accounting-team execution. Depending on the engagement, the role may also connect with technical accounting, internal-control improvement, reporting modernization, or transaction support. The final responsibilities are defined according to the organization’s complexity, timing, and support requirements.

Engagements are custom-scoped after discussing the company’s circumstances, required responsibilities, complexity, timing, and level of support. Scope may focus on leadership continuity, close and reporting oversight, audit preparation, transaction-related work, or broader accounting execution. Fees are determined after the scope and support requirements are discussed, rather than presented as a standard fixed package.

A company can begin by outlining the leadership gap, current accounting priorities, reporting or transaction demands, existing team structure, and desired level of involvement. Stratum Advisory Partners, LLC can then discuss the situation and determine whether interim CAO or controller leadership is an appropriate fit. The resulting engagement is tailored to the company’s specific needs and circumstances.