Most CEOs would agree that the CFO’s role has evolved significantly in recent years, shifting from a primarily operational function to a strategic role that actively supports business growth. Expectations toward CFOs vary depending on a company’s size, maturity and ambition ranging from start-ups preparing fundraising or IPOs, to established companies focused on operational excellence.
This article explores the CFO’s role today, the main challenges they face and what CEOs expect from their CFOs, drawing on insights from discussions with CEOs and CFOs across different industries and company stages.
What is the CFO’s role?
While the CFO’s responsibilities differ across organizations, the role is consistently viewed as the voice and steward of financial discipline. Broadly, the CFO’s responsibilities can be divided into two dimensions: an internal (“micro”) and an external (“macro”) perspective. A key attribute CEOs frequently seek is a CFO’s ability to genuinely embrace the company’s vision and purpose. Internally, this supports clear communication and team engagement; externally, it strengthens credibility with investors and stakeholders.
From an internal (“micro”) perspective, the CFO is responsible for overseeing the organization’s financial activities, supported by accounting, controlling, tax and treasury teams. A core responsibility is cash-flow management, which involves closely monitoring incoming revenues and receivables, ensuring customer payments are collected in full and on time and maintaining strict control over costs. In addition, the CFO leads the financial forecasting and budgeting processes, relying on detailed financial analysis as well as inputs from other departments to anticipate future performance and support planning. Also, he ensures the production of accurate, timely and transparent financial reporting providing management and stakeholders with a reliable view of the company’s financial health.
From an external or “macro” perspective, the CFO plays a key role in continuously assessing the broader market environment in which the organization operates. This includes monitoring regulatory and compliance changes, analyzing competitive dynamics, understanding shifts in customer demand and tracking technological developments. An increasingly important part of this role is risk management, particularly in relation to data protection, cyber threats, financial exposure and market volatility. In addition, the CFO assesses the financial viability and expected returns of strategic projects and investments by closely analyzing market conditions, funding requirements and long-term value creation, working in close collaboration with the CEO.
What are the CFO’s challenges?
CFOs across industries face recurring challenges related to rapidly identifying and interpreting relevant data, adapting to an increasingly complex regulatory environment, managing financial and operational risks and maintaining strong cash-flow and liquidity control. Risk management now goes beyond traditional finance and includes issues such as data protection, cyber threats, technology weaknesses and supply-chain resilience.
A central challenge lies not only in accessing data but in transforming it into meaningful insights that support effective decision-making. To address this, CFOs emphasize the importance of leveraging technology, including automation, predictive analytics and advanced dashboards to improve forecasting accuracy, reporting quality and organizational agility. Embracing innovation is widely seen as essential to driving business transformation and sustaining a competitive advantage.
In parallel, sustainability has become a growing priority as investors increasingly focus on how companies manage environmental and climate-related risks. As a result, CFOs are more closely involved in ESG compliance and reporting, prioritizing investments and applying financial discipline to manage the costs associated with transitioning toward more sustainable business models.
What do CEOs expect from their CFOs?
CEOs expect their CFOs to fully embrace the company’s purpose and vision and act as genuine business partners to the CEO and the Board. Beyond financial expertise, CFOs are expected to understand the core value of the business, challenge existing assumptions and help modernize operations to support growth. Additionally, authentic communication and proximity to their teams are essential, enabling CFOs to foster engagement, understand individual ambitions and reinforce commitment across the finance function.
Also, CEOs do value CFOs who collaborate effectively across the organization. By working closely with departments such as sales, marketing, human resources, IT and legal, CFOs can refine their analyses, gain deeper insight into market trends, regulatory developments, data protection needs and support better decision-making. Outstanding communication skills and the ability to build trust and synergies across teams are therefore critical, positioning CFOs as a central connector within the organization and a catalyst for business transformation.
Finally, integrity, leadership and strategic impact are fundamental expectations. CEOs rely on CFOs to uphold the highest standards of transparency, compliance, and ethical behavior, creating a culture of trust with employees, stakeholders and investors. At the same time, CFOs are expected to drive value creation by leveraging technology, defining meaningful performance metrics and contributing directly to growth initiatives such as M&A, capital raising or IPO preparation. Through strategic financial leadership and experience, the CFO plays a pivotal role in optimizing returns and supporting the company’s long-term success.
Conclusion
Through this article, we aimed at describing the CFO’s evolving role as a strategic leader, trusted advisor and driver of value. While technical expertise remains essential, CEOs increasingly value leadership, integrity, technological awareness and alignment with the company’s purpose. Viewed as a strategic investment rather than a cost, the modern CFO plays a central role in guiding organizations through complexity, transformation and sustainable growth.
