Key Skills for a Modern CFO
                     Key Skills for a 
Modern CFO
Over the last few decades, the role of the CFO has 
undergone a profound shift. The historical tasks of the 
finance function such as books and records, financial 
reporting, and statutory compliance continue to be 
important but are now taken for granted by CEOs. The 
CFO of today and tomorrow must be able to take 
financial data and use it to influence operational 
decision making and strategy. To do this effectively, a 
modern CFO will need to have a good grasp on 
available technology.
Leadership
To be an effective business partner, today’s CFO must 
have the necessary leadership and communication 
skills. They must give advice and counsel as well as 
provide a voice of reason.
Operations
They should possess a strong understanding of the 
company’s business model and industry and be able to 
use this knowledge to provide an independent 
perspective and to constructively challenge the 
commercial and operations teams, ensuring that 
business decisions are grounded in solid financial 
criteria.
Controls
In an increasingly global and volatile environment with 
additional regulatory burdens, it often falls to the CFO 
to ensure adequate assessment and mitigation of risk 
as well as compliance with applicable regulatory or 
other legal requirements.
Strategy
Supporting strategy development and helping enable 
its execution. The CFO also plays a role in prioritizing 
and ensuring the strategy can be funded.
The insights that an experienced CFO can bring to a 
business are powerful. Therefore, it is important that 
they know how to apply this knowledge in a 
commercial sense. A CFO that is too conservative may 
cause growth to be  unnecessarily slowed, but a CFO 
that does not give enough weight to compliance will 
cause nightmares for the CEO and stakeholders down 
the track. A great VCFO will be able to weigh up their 
insights against the business strategy and apply them as 
appropriate.
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