Hiring chief financial officers

The chief financial officer (CFO) is in charge of making sure your company remains well capitalized, with healthy topline growth, strong margins, proactive tax planning, and other factors. They must be able to forecast revenue using precise financial modeling — informed by sales trends, economic and industry contexts, and more. If you rely on outside capital (ex: fundraising), they should also be able to seize opportunities for obtaining it.

The CFO oversees the accounting and administration functions for the company. Their role may include directly supervising staff, developing and enforcing systems, and signing off on financial reports at all levels of the organization. Excellent management skills are required to succeed in all areas.

Budgeting and forecasting are two key components of the CFO job, helping companies anticipate revenue and plan expenditures for an upcoming quarter or fiscal year. Top CFOs understand how to prioritize the resources and tools available to them, and often work across departments to gather what they need for developing strong models.

Your next CFO will play a vital role in helping the executive management team and board of directors make major financial decisions, including assessing prospective investments. A good CFO uses their financial acumen to make strategic recommendations that take risk and potential profitability into account.

The best CFOs don’t just maintain the status quo — they’re always looking for ways to optimize processes and improve efficiency. Whether that means eliminating an unnecessary extra step or modernizing a process by implementing new technology, they’re dedicated to helping the accounting and finance teams function better.

Dealing with a company’s finances on a daily basis, the CFO must be a paragon of ethical behavior. They’re responsible not only for acting ethically themselves, but also for ensuring that their direct reports do the same. Candidates should have a clear understanding of what constitutes ethical behavior and what doesn’t — and recognize their role in preventing misconduct and fraud.

As part of your executive team, your next CFO will regularly have to engage with the company’s board of directors. This requires strong communication skills and an ability to disseminate information in a clear, objective, and honest manner. Nobody enjoys delivering bad news, but you need to know your new hire won’t try to gloss over challenging details.

Chief financial officers don’t operate in a vacuum — nor should they. Since your next CFO will work closely with other members of the finance department to plan and manage the company’s financial activities, you need to know that they can foster healthy working relationships with their direct reports and collaborate effectively to solve challenges.

This question can help you assess a candidate’s leadership skills and empathy. You want to know that your new executive hire will create a team culture in which employees are empowered to do their best work. That means leading with empathy, while still driving high performance and addressing issues when they arise.