From the more than 50 conversations that Bridgewell partners Paul van Vliet and Michiel Sintnicolaas have recently had with CEOs, business owners, HR Directors, Private Equity Partners, and CFOs about the evolving role of the CFO, a clear picture emerges.
Over the past 20 years, the role of the CFO has become broader and more strategic. The core of the function remains centered around resource management, cash flow oversight, risk assessment and mitigation, financial reporting, performance interpretation, and general financial planning and analysis. These will always be part of a CFO’s responsibilities. However, the well-known image of “bean counters” armed with calculators and spreadsheets has evolved. Today, CFOs are becoming the architects of their organizations when it comes to growth and performance goals.
CFOs Must Re-Skill
With the explosion of digital technologies such as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), mobile technologies, data analytics, blockchain (data structure), cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), CFOs have had to reinvent themselves. They now face a dizzying array of choices.
At the same time, data analysis is becoming increasingly important within most organizations. There’s currently no clear consensus on who should be responsible for this. In many cases, the most logical owner is the CFO — the one who already aggregates most of the data and is naturally well-equipped to analyze it.
It’s clear that significantly more is expected from today’s CFO — not just technical expertise, but also an understanding and application of the latest technologies to elevate the business both tactically and strategically. The role now increasingly includes being a strategic leader in activities such as mergers and acquisitions, managing change, operational responsibilities — and even commercial matters.
To manage all this successfully, a CFO must foster strong relationships within the company, assemble a well-oiled team that is aware of the latest technologies, and manage change effectively. The future CFO must acquire a new set of skills in addition to traditional financial capabilities. Increasingly, digital investments are shifting the focus from retrospective reporting to forward-looking analysis. Armed with these insights and strategically grounded know-how, the CFO is gaining more tools to help the CEO and board make sound decisions.
But this role goes far beyond just being a technology specialist. More and more, a CFO must understand the need for risk and risk management. Instead of being the traditional voice of caution, tomorrow’s CFO must develop a much greater commercial awareness to take risks — and understand how best to apply them. A CFO must understand every aspect of the company, not just the finance department, but everything from supply chain to macroeconomic trends.
Strong Communication Skills Are Essential
Excellent communication skills are also becoming increasingly important. The ability to communicate — not just at the top, but throughout the entire organization — is essential. Listening well, understanding others’ perspectives, and articulating those within the company to foster collaboration are necessary to achieve the best results.
The CFO of the Future
The CFO of the future — or better said, the desired CFO of the future — will need a high-performing finance team to truly excel. That means the CFO must lead talent management. Cultivating leadership and building top-tier teams is considered one of the key elements in setting strategic priorities. Indeed, talent development could well become the most important performance indicator for CFOs, ensuring individuals can transition into the diverse skill sets required to perform at this level.
Involving people in the process, encouraging, inspiring, and motivating them — all contribute to better organizational performance. By building a capable financial team that works with the right tools, systems, and processes, the CFO gains time. Working efficiently with expertise, knowledge, and technology unlocks more opportunities. This creates space to dive deeper — to understand the true value drivers in the market, what the greatest challenges and opportunities are, what drives the company culture, and what keeps employees motivated. When a CFO is more involved in all these diverse aspects of the business, it can contribute to greater overall success.
If leaders don’t know what really makes a company tick, it can negatively affect operations. In times of disappointing results, a CFO’s natural reaction is often to cut costs. But sometimes, that doesn’t yield the desired effect. If you truly understand what’s happening inside and outside the company, the better choice might be the opposite — for example, to invest. Taking risks in times of adversity depends entirely on having deep knowledge of the organization’s full landscape and its people.
Michiel Sintnicolaas
Managing Partner
