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Stephanie Arnold

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MBA, Ashland University, Ashland, OH, 2016 Six Sigma Green Belt, 2015 BS, Accounting, University of Akron, Akron, OH 2008

Stephanie Arnold

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Role
CFO

Service Areas
Columbus Metro Columbus Metro

About

Stephanie Arnold is a Fractional CFO with more than 16 years of experience helping organizations navigate growth, complexity, and operational change. She is passionate about working with small and mid-sized businesses because of their people-first mindset, strong sense of community, and the pride owners and employees bring to their work every day. Stephanie partners closely with business leaders to bring clarity to financial and operational challenges, helping them create scalable processes, strengthen decision-making, and build sustainable value for the future.

Stephanie is known for quickly bringing structure and alignment to fast-moving environments. In one key leadership role, she stepped into an organization with inconsistent processes across multiple geographic locations and led the effort to standardize procurement and expense reporting during a major ERP implementation. Within a year, she established aligned policies and implemented shared services processes that improved efficiency, reduced strain on staff, strengthened internal controls, and enabled teams to better focus their time and resources. Her ability to identify priorities, build buy-in, and keep teams moving toward shared goals makes her a trusted partner during periods of growth and transition. Clients appreciate her collaborative yet direct approach, her focus on understanding every perspective, and the lasting clarity and efficiency she helps organizations achieve.

Learn More About Stephanie

Get to know Stephanie’s other interests

Other Interests

What is your favorite way to spend free time? In my free time you can find me outside with my family. We enjoy visiting the many parks that Ohio has to offer, whether it be for hiking and canoeing, or enjoying coasters and water slides! I also enjoy camping with my horses and dogs, and spend several hours a week at the barn. When we have more time to get away, we've also been exploring as many national parks as possible.
What was your favorite vacation? This is such a hard question because I LOVE to travel, but my favorite vacation has to be the cruise that my family took to see Alaska. It was a conglomeration of unique experiences (my son [age 8] was co-pilot in a float plane tour of Denali, we rode a train to the Yukon, saw whales and seals up close, and were able to hold GIANT crabs on a crab boat tour), breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, lakes, glaciers, and wildlife, and combined with historical and cultural significance learning about the native tribes and how different each of them lived in the various geographies of Alaska (from the frozen tundra to the temperate rain forests near Ketchikan). It was truly a once-in-a lifetime experience.
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be an equine veterinarian when I grew up... and I pursued that goal into college before changing my major to accounting! In fact, I completed an Associate's degree in Horse Science at Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute, and was considered a senior in college before I took my first class in business or accounting. I believe my roots in the horse/agricultural industry are one of the key drivers behind my passion for small business owners as it has created the opportunity for me to meet so many entrepreneurs.

Before FocusCFO

Prior to FocusCFO, Stephanie Arnold held finance and controllership leadership roles within insurance support services, biotech/pharmaceuticals, and government consulting organizations, where she focused on improving accounting operations and reporting processes to support growth and scalability. Throughout her career, she led process improvement initiatives and ERP implementations that helped organizations operate more efficiently, strengthen internal controls, and create clearer financial visibility for leadership teams. Working through periods of growth and operational change taught Stephanie the importance of fully understanding both business goals and compliance requirements before developing solutions. Today, she brings that same thoughtful, practical approach to helping small and mid-sized business owners create stronger financial foundations and sustainable operational growth.

What attracted you to FocusCFO?

After participating in the acquisitions of a number of small companies, I was drawn to FocusCFO's collaborative approach to supporting small and medium sized business owners in maximizing the value of their companies, ensuring clear strategic goals and a strong financial position, which combine to enhance options for continued growth or sale of the company.

At FocusCFO, we help you direct your financial strategy and achieve your goals, giving you the freedom to change your life.

FocusCFO provides expert fractional CFO services What is a fractional CFO? A fractional CFO is an experienced financial executive who provides part-time or contract CFO services to help businesses with financial strategy, planning, and oversight without the cost of a full-time hire. to help entrepreneurs like you overcome these obstacles and achieve sustainable, transferable business value.

Our fractional CFOs provide the expertise of a full-time CFO at a fraction of the cost, with the flexibility to scale your support as needed. You will gain a clear understanding of your financial performance, streamline your operations, and develop a strategic roadmap for success.

Part of Your Team

Our experienced CFOs become an embedded part of your leadership team, providing strategic financial guidance to drive growth and profitability

C-Level Experience

Benefit from the insights of seasoned financial executives who have decades of experience working in industry, not just for it, as financial executives and entrepreneurs.

Team Approach

Leverage the collective wisdom of our collaborative team of CFOs - decades of expertise and best practices derived from a culture of collaboration and teamwork.