Becoming a CFO isn’t a linear journey and, due to the seniority of the role, requires more than just financial qualifications. Alongside accredited certifications and a relevant degree, CFOs will need extensive experience in an adjacent role with a history of successful financial decision-making. Demonstrating soft skills is also necessary for executive positions and goes hand in hand with an educational background.
For those wishing to become a CFO, knowing what is desirable and what is a requirement for the role is key to setting you apart from other candidates.
What is a CFO?
The role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) involves overseeing a company’s financial health and making sure its finances are managed effectively. This includes managing day-to-day financial operations such as reporting, budgeting, compliance, and tax obligations.
Beyond operational responsibilities, a CFO plays a key role in developing business strategy. They analyse financial data to guide decision-making, identify risks, and highlight opportunities for growth. Most CFOs also lead finance teams and work closely with other senior leaders, including the CEO and board. Their job is to translate complex financial information into clear insights that support better business decisions.
CFO qualifications and experience
There are no distinguished CFO qualifications but an educational background in finance, accounting, business or economics is essential as this provides the groundwork for the role; this could be a degree in accounting or finance-related studies. Alongside a degree, CFOs will typically hold a professional qualification such as ACCA, CIMA, or ICAEW.
It’s not only CFO qualifications that are a requirement; experience within a similar role will exhibit your understanding of financial landscapes. Positions such as Financial Controller, Finance Manager or Head of Finance are all beneficial in providing the basis of the CFO role.
What sets candidates apart is the breadth of their experience, as well as a demonstrated performance and associated qualifications.
Essential soft skills for a CFO
Soft skills are an often forgotten requirement for many careers, particularly those that demand effective leadership and communication to function. Candidates should be able to demonstrate:
- An ability to make tough decisions: Some financial decisions may not always be positive ones. Being able to carry out and communicate difficult choices that may negatively impact members of the team is a key skill for CFOs to have under their belt.
- Clear and effective communication: Throughout the lifetime of a CFOs career, they will have to communicate both good and bad news to key stakeholders, team members and external partners. Therefore, CFOs must have competency in effectively delivering information to different groups of people.
- Big-picture and analytical thinking: CFOs must be able to see past the day-to-day and ideate on how to scale, grow and improve the current financial operations and position of the company. Alongside this, they must be competent in scrutinising and dissecting all aspects of the financial framework, spotting key opportunities and potential weaknesses.
- Cross-department knowledge: The role of CFO is not confined to the finance department. Having an understanding of the broader business operations will benefit decision-making and allow a clearer picture of how the company operates as a full entity.
- A capability of leading and working within a team: Collaborative relationships are essential for CFOs who work closely with clients and partner organisations. They must be able to adjust their leadership style depending on the situation and lead effectively in every scenario.
How JSS can support your transition to CFO
As specialists in CFO and senior finance appointments, we support finance leaders through every stage of the transition, from readiness assessment to longer-term career strategy. Our role is not just to place you, but to help you secure a CFO position aligned with your leadership style, commercial impact, and future goals.
