What factors will consider in drafting a proposal for the reorganization of a finance dept when appointed as the new CFO

First you need to look at the responsibilities of the department and then break it down into tasks and then understand the volume of transactions. Once you have a good feel for that I would see if there are some software and services that can unburden some of the more routine tasks. For example expense reporting software can help reduce the time taken to process expense reports and depending on the volume it might make sense to outsource AP. Without knowing the specific circumstances it is hard to be more exact.

For me, the most important thing about setting up the organization is to do so in a way that supports the strategy or mission. If you want to create a "value-added partner" type of finance group, the major value streams are one way to think about reorganizing (though I blogged once about the negatives of this approach as well, so do it carefully).

In addition, thinking about the span of control is beneficial in three ways - 1) as far as your time is concerned, how many direct reports do you want to manage?, 2) from a training view, which of your direct reports might benefit from being "manager of managers"?, and 3) succession planning issues, what gaps might need to be filled?

A new person coming in might be able to eliminate some "sacred cows" that might once have been useful but are now debilitating, and some of this could be accomplished via org design. Also, potential outsourcing of non-value added activities might also be considered.

By asking the question, it appears you have already conducted a review of (a) the work that needs to be done, (b) how the dept is organized to do that work and (c) that you have determined that the organization is not optimal.

What did you find in your review, and did you collect any input from your senior staff? I think those findings would help drive the development of a solution,can you share what some of those findings are?