Fractional CFO Services Across Tennessee
Tennessee's economy is not a services economy with some factories attached. It is an industrial state: automotive and supplier networks, metals and chemicals processing, contract manufacturing, distribution and logistics, utilities and power infrastructure, and a life sciences manufacturing base that has grown alongside the healthcare cluster in Nashville. Those businesses need a different kind of finance leader than a software company does.
Bjoerkman Consulting brings sector depth that is unusual among fractional CFO providers. More than 25 years of senior finance experience spanning pharma services and contract development and manufacturing, plus an earlier career in power, automation and chemicals, with ownership of supply chain and IT alongside finance rather than finance in isolation. If your cost of goods is driven by plants, capacity utilization, raw material inputs, freight and labor, the conversation starts at the operating level instead of at the trial balance.
A coverage model that works outside the Nashville core
Plenty of finance help is available in downtown Nashville. Considerably less of it will drive to Murfreesboro, Lebanon, Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville or Chattanooga, and a manufacturer forty miles from the city rarely wants a CFO who has never walked the floor. Regular coverage extends across Middle Tennessee, including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Williamson County, Rutherford County and the surrounding counties, with statewide engagements handled on a scheduled onsite cadence.
Industrial and manufacturing finance, done properly
Manufacturing and industrial services businesses fail on finance in predictable ways: costing that does not reflect reality, working capital tied up in inventory, capital spending decided on instinct, and long-cycle project accounting that produces reported results that mislead management as much as anyone else.
Cross-border and foreign-parent companies
Mats Bjoerkman is Swedish, works in English and Swedish, and has spent a career inside international industrial organizations. For a US subsidiary with a Nordic or European parent, or a European company establishing US operations, that combination of local operating experience and familiarity with how group finance functions actually think is difficult to source in this market.
Frequently asked questions
Can you serve companies outside the Nashville metro area?
Yes. Engagements across Tennessee are structured around a scheduled onsite cadence, with the remainder of the work handled remotely. For businesses in Rutherford, Wilson, Maury, Montgomery or Putnam counties, that usually means one or two planned onsite days per visit rather than ad hoc drop-ins, which is more productive for everyone.
What size company is this a fit for?
Typically businesses between roughly $5 million and $150 million in revenue, where the finance function has outgrown a controller but a full-time CFO is either unaffordable, unnecessary, or not yet the right hire. Below that range the need is usually accounting capacity rather than CFO judgment.
Do you have manufacturing and industrial experience specifically?
Yes, and it is the foundation of the practice rather than an addition to it. The career spans power, automation and chemicals before pharma services and contract manufacturing, with responsibility for supply chain and IT alongside finance. Costing, capacity, inventory and capital planning are familiar territory, not a learning curve billed to you.
Can you work with a foreign parent company's reporting requirements?
Yes. This includes parallel reporting under local and group frameworks, group close calendars, intercompany and transfer pricing mechanics, and currency exposure. Working in both English and Swedish, with experience inside international industrial organizations, is a practical advantage for subsidiaries of Nordic and European parents.