From a return-on-investment perspective, business continuity "calculations do not work," said CFO Len Moskowitz. But "in the long term we gain the customer loyalty, and the payback is further down the road."

Testa developed a business continuity plan over a decade ago, when auditors suggested it. Eventually, customers started asking for this information.

The company's plan evolved from planning for small incidents -- like a relatively minor power outage -- to greater problems, like the long-term, product-threatening loss of refrigeration. "We look at each process we do on a day-to-day basis," he said. "You go through each one and you find the alternative."

Starting small is a perfectly valid strategy, said Ernst & Young's Ray, adding that some companies build out their plans over a period of years, after first securing the firm's essential components. And in the planning stages, she said, a CFO should "provide education awareness," a role that requires the executive to take a pulse on the current capabilities of the business. Grasping how a firm runs allows executives to determine its core functions, and invest more in them.

Testa reviews its plan once a year or when the company undergoes a major change, Moskowitz said, such as adding a cooler to its facility.