Historically, the dealership comptroller tended to be a trusted family member, someone to take back-office pressures away from the dealer-principal as he worked with customers. But times are a-changing.

“At these dealerships going forward,” says Dave Dahms, CFO and vice president of finance and administration of Precision Equipment, Muscatine, Iowa, “you need a comptroller who is also part of that senior team who is providing the financial balances, projections and cash flows to be able to make informed business decisions for the company as well as how we operate as a channel member of John Deere.

“As the businesses grow, there are so many more critical pieces that bring greater exposures. When there are only 2-3 locations, the owners could manage and be hands-on, but that is not the environment that will exist moving forward.”

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