Shifting gears: The tools and mindset modern CFOs need to succeed
Table of Contents
Modern CFOs often feel like they’re stuck in high gear with no pit stops. If you’ve ever joked about needing a clone or a six-day workweek to handle everything, you’re not alone. Today’s finance leaders are under intense pressure, juggling core financial stewardship with rising strategic expectations from CEOs, boards, and investors. In fact, a recent survey of 260 CFOs found that 85% would need an extra one or two days per week to keep on top of their workload and many admit to feeling overwhelmed by their role multiple times a month. Yet amid this operational overload lies an opportunity: by shifting gears – adopting new tools and a new mindset, CFOs can free themselves from the grind and become the strategic leaders their organizations need them to be.
The Overworked CFO: From Operational Overload to Strategic Opportunity
It’s clear that CFOs are working harder than ever, but are they working smarter? The AccountsIQ CFO Mindset report reveals a troubling paradox: while finance chiefs are logging long hours, much of that time is spent on low-value tasks. Routine compliance and transactional duties are eating up bandwidth that could be used for strategy and growth initiatives. No wonder so many finance leaders feel they’re stuck in the weeds.
Joking aside, this ‘operational overload’ has serious implications. When 85% of CFOs say they literally don’t have enough days in the week to get the job done, it’s a wake-up call. CFOs are at a crossroads, do they continue trying to muscle through tactical tasks (risking burnout and missed opportunities), or reallocate time toward higher-value activities. The good news? CFOs recognise the need for change. An overwhelming 86% admit that key financial decisions in their company are often made without sufficient data or insight – a sign that the status quo isn’t sustainable. Forward-thinking CFOs see this gap and are itching to close it. As one CFO quipped, “It’s hard to steer the ship when you’re down in the engine room.” It’s time to come up for air and take the helm.
Data-Driven Decision Making – Fuel for the Future-Ready CFO
Data is the new oil for modern finance, yet many CFOs are running on fumes. A striking 86% of finance leaders say decisions about financial strategy are being made without enough data-driven insight. It’s not that CFOs don’t want to be data-driven – it’s that their tools and systems haven’t kept pace. Many still rely on error-prone spreadsheets and patchwork systems, even as their businesses speed ahead in a world of real-time analytics. In 2025, roughly 70% of finance professionals are investing in AI and advanced analytics tools, yet far too many CFOs still lean on yesterday’s spreadsheets to navigate today’s volatility. The result? Critical choices are made with tools that “can’t keep up with economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and rapidly shifting business dynamics”. In other words, they are flying blind in a storm.
The appetite for better data is certainly there. Over 60% of CFOs in the survey believe that having the right tools would make all the difference in their decision-making . In practice, this means investing in modern finance systems, business intelligence dashboards and predictive analytics that put real-time information at a CFO’s fingertips. More than a third of CFOs (38%) said they’d feel far more in control of their company’s financial future if they had better financial technology in place. Conversely, 34% admitted that limited technology is one of the biggest threats to their organization’s financial stability. The message is clear: staying competitive requires upgrading the finance tech stack.
Emerging technologies like AI and machine learning are quickly becoming part of the finance toolkit – but with a dose of caution. According to the CFO Mindset report, 74% of CFOs are already employing AI tools in areas like financial reporting . Yet only 35% of finance leaders fully consider AI a game-changer for their business ; the rest are taking a “wait and see” approach, or harboring doubts about the hype. This cautious optimism is healthy. A modern CFO doesn’t adopt tech for tech’s sake – they are strategic about deploying tools that truly drive insight and efficiency. As GrowCFO often advises, start with your biggest pain points (say, forecasting or consolidation) and explore how data analytics or AI might alleviate the load. Even small wins – like automating a manual report – can free up hours each week, creating newfound time for strategic thinking.
The CFO as Strategic Leader: Evolving Expectations
Long gone are the days when a CFO could hide in the back office crunching numbers. Today’s CFO is expected to be a strategic partner and key advisor to the CEO, helping chart the company’s course through choppy waters. In fact, you aren’t simply the finance expert; you are a business leader who happens to have a finance background. That means you belong at the strategy table with an equal seat, contributing far more than just financial forecasts. The modern CFO’s remit now spans influencing business direction, driving transformation, and communicating the story behind the numbers to stakeholders across the organization. It’s a role that blends financial acumen with leadership finesse.
This evolution in expectations comes with some growing pains. Many CFOs want to play a bigger strategic role but feel held back by day-to-day fires. It often requires a conscious effort – and sometimes a culture shift – for a CFO to step forward as a strategic leader. According to GrowCFO’s experience coaching finance leaders, the ability to influence people and manage change is becoming as essential as mastering the balance sheet. You might be rolling out a new KPI dashboard to operational managers, or pushing for an overhaul of an outdated process – these initiatives demand soft skills like communication, persuasion, and empathy. Finance leaders are learning that to drive strategy, they must also drive cultural change towards data-driven decision making. As one GrowCFO insight notes, business cultures need to evolve so that decisions are based on timely, accurate data, not gut feel. And that evolution often starts with the CFO championing modern tools and replacing low-value, repetitive tasks with automation and AI to refocus the team on value-add analysis.
Another critical aspect of the CFO’s new mandate is talent and team leadership. The CFO Mindset report highlighted that 84% of CFOs are experiencing a shortage of financial professionals with the right skills. In plain terms, it’s hard to delegate strategic work if your team is under-resourced or lacks the necessary capabilities. Thus, today’s CFO must also act as a talent architect – hiring and developing an agile finance team equipped to handle both the technical and analytical demands of modern finance. This might mean upskilling existing staff in data analytics, bringing in new team members with backgrounds in business partnering, or leveraging external partners for certain functions. Investors and boards are certainly expecting CFOs to build future-ready finance functions. As AccountsIQ’s CEO Darren Cran observes, when companies scale up with investor backing, there’s an expectation of greater investment in finance systems and people to meet higher reporting standards and strategic demands. CFOs who rise to this challenge by nurturing the right team and tech infrastructure will find themselves liberated to focus on higher-level strategy. In essence, the CFO who masters delegation and team empowerment ends up with the capacity to truly lead.
Shifting Gears: How to Free Up Time for Strategy (5 Practical Steps)
So, how can a busy CFO actually make this shift from operational doer to strategic driver? Here are five practical recommendations to start rebalancing your focus and reclaiming your agenda:
1. Automate and Delegate the Routine: Take a hard look at your task list and identify the repetitive, low-value activities that consume your time (monthly report assembly, manual reconciliations, endless budget iterations – ring a bell?). Then leverage technology or delegation to offload these tasks. Replace clunky spreadsheets and manual processes with automation, AI, and modern financial software wherever possible. This could mean implementing an AI-driven invoice processing tool or using a cloud platform that consolidates multi-entity accounts at the click of a button. Freeing your team from mechanical work creates bandwidth for analysis and innovation. As the saying goes, spend time, don’t waste it. Every hour saved on number-crunching is an hour gained for strategic thinking.
2. Invest in the right tools (and skills): Modern problems require modern solutions. If data insights are lacking, consider upgrading your finance technology stack – whether it’s a robust FP&A system, a dashboarding tool, or enhanced analytics capabilities. Over a third of CFOs believe better financial technology would give them greater control over the business, and it’s easy to see why. The ability to get real-time visibility into performance (and model out “what-if” scenarios on the fly) is a game-changer. But tools alone aren’t enough; ensure your team is trained to use them effectively. Build an ‘analytics mindset’ within your finance team so that everyone is comfortable exploring data and generating insights. GrowCFO recommends investing in both software and people – upskill your team in data analytics and storytelling. An empowered, tech-savvy finance team will amplify your strategic impact.
3. Prioritize strategic planning This sounds simple, but it’s transformative: schedule time for strategy. Too often, CFOs find their weeks consumed by urgent emails and meetings, with strategic initiatives perpetually pushed to “next month.” To break this cycle, deliberately carve out time for forward-looking work – whether it’s a quarterly strategy offsite with your team, or just a two-hour weekly block to focus on long-term planning. Guard this time as you would a board meeting. Strategic planning is a long-term process that requires consistent attention and input from across the C-suite. By visibly committing time to it, you signal its importance to your team and peers. Use this time to analyse market trends, evaluate investment opportunities, or simply think creatively about the business’s future. Over time, these regular strategic pit stops will shift your reputation from the ‘chief accountant’ to a true strategic advisor.
4. Cultivate Your Leadership and Influence: Great CFOs don’t just report the numbers – they inspire action based on the numbers. Work on the soft skills that will let you drive cross-functional initiatives. This might mean honing your storytelling abilities (so you can translate complex financial data into compelling business narratives for non-financial stakeholders) or practicing stakeholder management and negotiation. The ability to influence people is now an essential part of the CFO role. Consider this: you may have the best analysis in the world, but it won’t matter if you can’t convince others to act on it. GrowCFO’s mentoring programs often emphasise communication, persuasion, and change management for this reason. You want to be seen not just as the finance guru, but as a leader who rallies departments around common goals. Tip: try pairing every major data insight with a clear recommendation and an explanation of why it matters to the business – this builds your credibility as a strategic thinker in the eyes of your colleagues.
5. Build a Future-Ready Finance Team and Culture: Finally, remember that you can’t shift the finance function’s focus alone – it takes a team. Surround yourself with talent that complements your strategic goals. Hire people who are not only technically proficient but also curious, adaptable, and business-minded. Foster a culture in which the finance team sees itself as a value driver, not a back-office cost centre. Encourage your team to proactively seek improvements, whether it’s finding efficiency gains or brainstorming new financial models to support growth. And don’t hesitate to lean on external expertise or partnerships for areas outside your core team’s strengths (for example, outsourcing some compliance tasks or engaging a consultant for a one-off analysis). The end game is to create a finance function that’s agile, analytical, and aligned with the company’s strategy. With such a team in place, you as CFO can confidently delegate operational matters and focus on steering the ship.
Conclusion: Embrace the Shift – CFO 2.0 Awaits
The role of the CFO is undergoing a profound transformation. From the insights of the AccountsIQ CFO Mindset report to GrowCFO’s on-the-ground experience with finance leaders, the message is consistent: modern CFOs must shift gears. This means embracing new tools and a new mindset – letting technology handle the heavy lifting of finance operations while you devote your energy to strategic leadership. It also means continually evolving your skill set, from data literacy to people skills, to meet the rising expectations of the role. The CFO who can crunch the numbers and craft the narrative is worth their weight in gold.
It’s an exciting time to be a finance leader. Yes, the demands are high – economic uncertainty, digital disruption, talent shortages – but so are the opportunities for those ready to step up. By reallocating your time toward strategy, investing in data-driven decision making, and leading your team with vision, you can transform from an overwhelmed operator into a future-ready change-maker. In doing so, you’ll not only boost your company’s performance but also elevate the stature of the finance function as a whole.
Ready to shift gears?
Download the full AccountsIQ CFO Mindset Report for a deeper dive into these insights and benchmarks. And to arm yourself with the skills and support to become a truly future-ready CFO, explore the programs and resources offered by GrowCFO – from mentoring and training to a community of forward-thinking finance leaders. The modern CFO journey is challenging, but with the right tools and mindset, you can drive your finance function (and your career) to new heights. Buckle up and embrace the new era – your strategic leadership moment has arrived.
Responses