What makes a great CFO?

How to upgrade your finance leadership skills

How Great CFOs Spend Their Time

Today’s chief financial officer (CFO) believes that 25% of his/her time is improperly used. Gartner surveyed 100+ CFOs globally and learned that great CFOs: spend less time on finance function activities; spend more time on analyzing and communicating value; and are more likely to exceed CEO expectations. It’s essential that CFOs become more customer-oriented, build constructive tension with the CEO and board, apply financial leadership principles to time management and are closely involved with the business. Download the guide and learn how to determine where to spend finance leader time for maximum impact.

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    Business managers will continue to pull the same levers and push the same buttons; if you believe that the future looks different than the past, then different actions are required. I dedicate time to arrive at my own conclusions.
    EVP & CFO at a Major Retailer

    CFOs are plagued with uncertainty and time constraints

    The pace of change is fast, organizations are becoming more complex and CFOs are finding themselves in increasingly unfamiliar situations, forced to write the playbook on what makes a great CFO as they go. CFOs tell Gartner that they want to reduce their time with the finance function by 5%, indicating they recognize but can’t yet capture the value of reduced time with the function. CFOs need to increase effectiveness at taking the risks required to deliver long-term growth, and meeting CEO expectations on financial performance.
    Finance leaders are spending 25% to 50% of their time navigating unfamiliar situations.

    Great CFOs allocate time and personal capital to drive change

    Our insights into what makes a great chief financial officer (CFO) — based on an analysis of 100+ CFOs — can help you make better decisions more consistently and enable your organization to more rapidly implement major change initiatives. Use our tools to measure leadership success against the organization’s change initiatives.

    A CFO's duties must align to business growth goals

    At a time when organizations face unprecedented uncertainty, the need for CFOs to mobilize the drivers of business growth is critical. However, only 20% of CFOs are personally effective. Learn how great CFOs deliver short-term financial results and sustain long-term growth.

    Learn More

    Influence with the CEO is what makes a great CFO

    While 80% of CFOs have strong relationships with the CEO, only 30% of CFOs frequently change their CEO’s mind on major issues. Great CFOs influence their CEOs and build strong CEO-CFO relationships. Review this peer benchmarking to model great CFO performance.

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    How to build a successful strategic plan for finance

    Does your strategic finance plan promote finance initiatives that will drive enterprise productivity, innovation and growth? Kick-start finance strategic planning with Gartner’s guide, which includes a proven template for saving time and communicating the plan effectively.

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    Position finance to drive value

    CFOs have a new role in capturing value for the organization: funding competitive differentiation. For 15 years, Gartner has examined how finance teams successfully drive both top- and bottom-line improvements. See the key findings and learn how great CFOs drive value.

    Drive Value

    Understand the trends shaping the future of finance

    As digital technologies continue to disrupt industries and markets, the finance function must also transform to leap competition. Discover 10 trends shaping the future of finance with new processes, technologies and business models.

    Watch Trends

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    New to the CFO role?

    Congratulations on your chief financial officer (CFO) position! Gartner helps you transition confidently and succeed faster.

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    What makes a great CFO: Financially sound decision making

    Great CFOs transform the finance business partnering model to provide the proactive, differentiated support the organization needs. Gartner guides CFOs in avoiding unsound decision making.

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    What makes a great CFO: Successful finance transformations

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