What I Wish I Knew: Real Lessons From My First Year as a New CFO
Statistics show that one in ten CFOs at major companies quit within their first year. More than half leave their positions by year five. These numbers hit close to home when I took my first CFO role. I was determined not to become part of these statistics.
Your challenges as a CFO begin the moment you say yes to the job offer, not on your first official day. The role has grown more demanding. CFOs now oversee more than six different functions, up from just four in 2016. My first 90 days taught me why many new finance leaders struggle. A staggering 80% of finance professionals battle Imposter Syndrome during their careers. This feeling intensifies especially when you have board-level interactions in your first CFO role.
My experience taught me valuable lessons. I wish someone had told me the raw truth about what makes a CFO successful. This piece will help you direct through the complexities of your first year. You’ll learn from my experiences – some of which came with hard lessons – and get the knowledge I wish I had from day one.
What I Wish I Knew Before Day One
My first CFO position taught me a valuable lesson. Technical financial expertise alone wasn’t enough. The finance function connects every part of an organization—from employee compensation to strategic decisions. This knowledge would have completely changed my initial approach.
Understand the business before stepping in
A new CFO should develop an independent, outside-in view of the company before day one. You need deep knowledge of business drivers, industry dynamics, and value creation trends that will shape the company’s future. Looking beyond financial statements helps you learn about operational and commercial KPIs that reveal vulnerabilities and opportunities.
Internal CFO candidates benefit from their organizational knowledge and existing relationships. External candidates must focus on the company’s strategic direction and operational details. Your credibility with stakeholders depends on how well you understand the business from day one.
Clarify expectations with the CEO and board
A strong CFO-CEO relationship stands at the heart of successful corporate leadership. Traveling with the CEO can help build this relationship quickly. Their introductions can accelerate your integration into the company.
The CEO and board must agree on strategic priorities. The CEO should be the visionary while the CFO masters execution. This partnership creates effective leadership—similar to a captain and first officer in an airplane cockpit.
Start building your new cfo checklist early
Research your company’s history, mission, and values thoroughly before your first day. Study financial statements and reports to spot process improvements early.
Your role demands more than financial expertise. Plan meetings to build partnerships inside and outside the finance function. Meet each team member individually to understand their roles and contributions.
Your preparation strategy will vary based on internal promotion or external hire status. Both paths require a focused, results-driven development plan.
The First 90 Days: Listening, Learning, and Leading
My first 90 days as CFO shaped my entire path as a leader. The early weeks gave me a chance to learn, build relationships, and establish credibility. I needed to avoid rushed decisions that could derail my success.
Conduct a stakeholder listening tour
Right after starting, I scheduled one-on-one meetings with all direct reports in the first two weeks. I met with peers and key external stakeholders within the first month. These meetings weren’t just introductions – they helped me discover what stakeholders really wanted versus what they said they wanted.
Understanding stakeholders’ true desires starts with asking targeted questions. You can test your theories through multiple conversations. The insights you gather help you identify the “currencies” you can utilize to get support for your agenda. These conversations also reveal patterns that shape your strategy.
Assess the finance function’s current state
A detailed assessment of your finance function shows you the strengths and areas that need improvement. I spent time on:
- Reviewing two years of bank statements line by line (it took 3-4 days but showed critical spending patterns)
- Evaluating financial systems, reporting mechanisms, and team organization
- Looking at technology usage, data flow, and documentation
This assessment helped me rate operational problems based on status (from dysfunctional to no issue), urgency (from first 3 months to future), and effect (high to nil).
Avoid quick decisions without full context
Indecision can be as harmful as rushed decisions. Michael Roberto notes that many managers admit, “It took us too long to make some key decisions. By the time we did, we’d lost ground”. All the same, analysis paralysis remains a big challenge for new CFOs who think there’s always “a right answer” when there’s only “the best answer given available information”.
Balance speed with strategic patience
New CFOs must guide their organization’s speed-versus-control balance. You need to make tough calls instead of delaying important decisions, which often leads to the worst outcomes for shareholder returns. This responsibility comes with setting clear transformation targets with stage gates for funding and backup plans.
Building the Foundation for Long-Term Success
My first 90 days laid the groundwork. Now it was time to build lasting success. This next phase needed careful planning beyond the immediate challenges.
Line up with the CEO on strategic priorities
The CEO-CFO relationship shapes your company’s strategic direction and risk management capabilities. Regular strategy sessions with the CEO proved valuable to discuss our organization’s long-term vision. These sessions created a unified approach to decision-making. Yes, it is true that both CEOs (62%) and CFOs (65%) put growth at the top of their priority list. CFOs tend to worry more about cost management though. Clear, measurable goals that captured both financial and strategic aspects of our organization helped bridge these gaps.
Define your finance vision and roadmap
A strong finance vision comes from understanding your organization’s strategy and how Finance helps drive key business decisions. My detailed roadmap covering 3-5 years listed priority initiatives with key milestones. This roadmap became the blueprint that helped line up our people, processes, and systems. It addressed crucial questions about value creation, process redesign, technology implementation, and talent development.
Set functional goals that support business strategy
C-Suite executives, founders, and board members provided valuable input when setting financial objectives. This shared approach helped me:
- Create realistic revenue targets with sales leaders
- Lock in lead generation goals with marketing
- Plan hiring targets with HR leadership
- Get board approval for the final plan
Build a team that complements your strengths
My ideal team members needed more than technical expertise. Business acumen, communication skills, and high emotional intelligence mattered just as much. A clear team structure with defined accountability reduced operational risk. The team’s professional development stayed a top priority to keep skills fresh and support career growth.
Lessons in Leadership and Personal Growth
Technical expertise in financial operations is just half the battle in a CFO role. My experience has shown that personal growth and leadership development ended up determining long-term success.
The importance of mentorship and peer networks
Finance leaders often feel isolated. I learned that building connections with fellow CFOs are a great way to get support and fresh views. CFO networks help you learn from others who face similar challenges. These communities create safe spaces where you can explore business challenges, get new perspectives, and build supportive professional relationships.
CFOs say their peer networks generate more ideas in one meeting than they’d normally get in six months. Mentorship from experienced finance leaders helps simplify complex concepts and gives you the tools you need for data-informed decisions.
Managing imposter syndrome and self-doubt
My credentials didn’t stop me from feeling like an imposter, especially during board interactions. This happens more than you’d think—most finance professionals deal with imposter syndrome, especially when they’re the youngest person in the boardroom.
I developed several strategies to curb these feelings: I really prepared for meetings, asked questions “like an investigative journalist,” reframed fear as an asset, and sometimes struck power poses before important presentations. One CFO adviser pointed out that imposter syndrome shows “you are pushing yourself into a zone where you grow”.
Balancing work intensity with personal well-being
The numbers are eye-opening: 84% of CFOs have experienced chronic burnout, and 34% think about leaving their positions. I learned to make self-care a strategic priority—not just for personal fulfillment but professional excellence.
Exercise, good sleep, and mindfulness aren’t optional extras. They’re essential for staying sharp in high-pressure environments. Strategic boundaries protect your personal time and keep work from taking over family life.
How to be a successful CFO without burning out
You need intentional habits to succeed without burning out. Regular reflection time saves hours by helping you focus on key goals. Fixed routines—including specific times to disconnect—create mental space for insights that rarely come during constant work.
Delegation makes a huge difference. When you trust tasks to team members, you enable them and free up your schedule. Regular self-reflection helps you spot stress patterns before they become problems.
Conclusion
My trip from financial expert to strategic CFO has been full of challenges that created profound opportunities to grow. The first year showed me that technical skills barely scratch the surface of what this role needs. The groundwork before day one, building vital relationships, and creating a clear roadmap in your first 90 days shape your path forward.
A CFO’s success depends substantially on building strong bonds with the CEO and board. These partnerships are the foundations of strong organizational leadership. The finance team you build should complement your strengths and cover your weaknesses because no CFO can succeed alone.
Personal wellbeing turned out to be crucial to my effectiveness as a leader, which surprised me the most. Even the most capable finance leaders face burnout risks. Setting clear boundaries, taking time to reflect, and practicing self-care became vital parts of my leadership approach rather than optional extras.
The CFO role now reaches far beyond traditional financial oversight into strategic business partnerships. This rise needs adaptability, constant learning, and the courage to challenge comfort zones. The feeling of being an impostor might stay with you, but it shows you’re growing rather than falling short.
This experience taught me that being an effective CFO needs more than just knowing financial statements—it takes business sense, relationship skills, strategic patience, and personal resilience. The path isn’t always clear, but these lessons create a strong base to handle modern financial leadership’s complexities. The most valuable lessons come from real leadership experience, not textbooks.
