CFO Readiness – A Term Relevant to ALL Finance Professionals

You may have thought that the term ‘CFO readiness’ is only relevant to you if you actually want to be a CFO one day.

Well, that’s not the case, and I’ll explain why in a minute.

CFO readiness obviously does apply to those who want to be CFOs. And the point is that “luck is where preparation meets opportunity” – no-one can promise that you’ll get to be a CFO, because the right opportunity may not come along, and the competition may be too strong. But what you do have complete control over is your preparation – your readiness – so that you’re ready if and when the right opportunity comes along.

But, it would be easy to stop listening at that point if you’re thinking, “but I don’t want to be a CFO!”

Or, you may be early in your career, and you haven’t even thought about your ultimate goal. You “just want progression” or to “do the best I can.”

Or you may be too nervous to say that you have an aspiration, because you’d be embarrassed if you didn’t make it.

But, I want to say, even if you’re in one of those categories, CFO readiness is still a concept that is relevant to you.

All roads lead to...

The first reason why that’s the case – if you’re a Finance professional who doesn’t want to stand still in your career – is that everyone in Finance works for the CFO.

If we define “progression” as “rising higher in the hierarchy”, then to progress in a Finance career means getting ever closer to a CFO role.

That means that the closer you get to a CFO role, the more like a CFO you need to become.

What is a CFO?

So, if progression means progressively becoming more like a CFO, then the biggest help will be to get clear on what a CFO is.

So, answer me these questions:

Is a CFO the Finance department’s Excel whizzkid?

Is a CFO the most amazing Powerpoint designer?

Is a CFO the most knowledgeable person in the company about Finance software and digital technology?

Is a CFO the best at designing database queries, Essbase cubes, reports, forecasting technical processes, etc etc?

Is a CFO the most knowledgeable about IFRS, tax or industry regulations?

NO!

So, how did they get to the top if they’re not the best at anything that is done in Finance? Surely, that’s not fair?!

And it’s because CEOs and business owners / investors need CFOs to be...

Business leaders.

CFOs are their CEO’s right-hand person, ensuring the business performs to its full potential. They lead the business to better performance.

What got you here won’t get you there

So, finally, the other reason I use the term “CFO readiness” to describe the challenge involved in Finance career progression is because the approach to becoming a business leader is so different to the approach we used to become an accountant.

It’s so easy to make a mistake here, because no-one tells you what to do after you get your accounting qualification (apart from you have to do some CPD every year).

You are completely on your own!

So, the tendency is to gravitate towards just getting more technical skills, possibly doing more exams and getting more qualifications. And that actually gets you nowhere.

... because you’re not aiming to become an accountant anymore. You’re aiming to become a business leader!

And in becoming a business leader, experience is more important than knowledge or exam passes.

Actually, not just experience... I’d call it more like “demonstrated capability”.

It’s about demonstrated capability in business – business acumen.

And it’s about demonstrated capability in leadership – personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

Take action

So, if you want to progress in your career, you owe it to yourself to find out what it means to pursue CFO readiness.

And that’s exactly what you’ll find in my short course – The Finance Career Growth Masterclass – see below for details.

The Finance Career Growth Masterclass and Mastermind Group – NOW AVAILABLE!

I’ve just released a new free online course: The Finance Career Growth Masterclass.

In it I’ll take you through the critical success factors for modern Finance careers, giving you principles for planning job moves and helping you to identify your development areas.

This will also include an exclusive online community – The Finance Career Growth Mastermind Group, with discussion forums, challenges and monthly live Q&A calls.

If you care about your career and want to maximize your progress and success...

OR... If you just want to know how to make good decisions about your job moves and personal development

CLICK HERE to find out more and get immediate access.

CFO Readiness Builder

If you are keen to progress quickly in your Finance career, you need to focus on the skills and capabilities that make the difference – the business acumen and behavioural skills that make you a business leader.

Our CFO Readiness Builder program is designed to help you to do that. CLICK HERE to find out more.

And if you think that’s something you’d like to do, I’d encourage you to use the button on the page that allows you to “Schedule a Discovery Call” so that I can help you with any questions and let you know about our current special deal.

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About the Author – Andy Burrows

I’m Andy Burrows, and I’m Founder and CEO of Supercharged Finance, a provider of online learning and coaching, aimed at helping Finance professionals get better at helping the businesses they work for.

I qualified as a chartered accountant in the UK, and have worked for more than 25 years as a senior Finance professional in a variety of businesses of different sizes and sectors.

I’m now a popular writer in Finance and Accounting. In 2019 Anders Liu-Lindberg described me as one of the "Top voices on LinkedIn for Finance, accounting and FP&A". And in 2024 I was given official LinkedIn Top Voice status (see the little blue badge on my profile!)

If you’d like to hear even more from me, go to my profile and click the follow button!