For Rent: Chief Financial Officers

This past year, Al Lovata, chief executive of Be Our Guest Inc., cut expenses for his party-equipment rental business by laying off staff and reducing workers’ salaries. He credits an “outsourced” chief financial officer with helping him prepare for the worst of the economic downturn.

The Boston-based company had sales growth in the double digits for the past few years, when revenue fell flat last fall. Now, thanks to the part-time CFO’s guidance, the company is stable with revenue down 20% to 30%, but profitability higher than in the previous months, he says.

If we hadn’t had this service, “we would still be struggling,” Mr. Lovata says.