February 07, 2023

How Can you get the Top Finance Job (and be Effective)?

54 minutes

Kevin Appleby, COO of Grow CFO, asks potential CFO applicants a simple question.

Okay, I know you want to become a CFO.

But what sort of CFO do you want to become?

In fact, he explains, there are three types of CFO.

You need to know which one you will be.

The “Financier”. Specialists in startups, they excel at tackling fundraising rounds, and M&A. They often move from company to company.

The “Transformational CFO”. This CFO wants big improvements in processes and in the way that the internals of the company work together. This CFO often heads several departments including finance, procurement, HR, and IT.

The “Strategist” – the clear right-hand man or woman of the CEO, constantly analyzing the strategic direction of the company.

Somebody from an FP&A background fits into any of those roles depending on what they want and their strengths, argues Appleby.

But getting to know your strengths as CFO or in FP&A is crucial to achieve the most from your career. He says: “If you're strong in something and you take time to develop it, you can become fantastically good. If you weak in something, you can spend a lot of time to become mediocre.”

This is just one of the insights that Kevin Appleby has gained as he mentors top CFOs in the UK and the US as part of the fast-growing mentorship service Grow CFO. In this episode of FP&A he maps his career from audit (“I never really wanted to be an auditor”) and FP&A (“back then FP&A as a term didn't really exist”) at one-time great manufacturing company, Imperial Chemicals Chemical Industries (ICI) and as a management consultant at PwC turned mentor and consultant with Grow CFO.

This episode is essential for anyone seeking to move from finance or FP&A to the top finance position. Kevin Appleby explains to Paul.

How GrowCFO was founded and how it is identify skills launching CFOs you into the next phase of their career

The core competencies of highly successful CFOs

The importance of budgeting and zero-based budgeting and the increasing power of FP&A for CFOs

Why the value of your business is a multiplier of the bottom line (not the top line)

Why every business (not just manufacturing) must engage with activity analysis

His biggest FP&A Failure

His best advice for FP&A professionals

Links from the show

Grow CFO - https://www.growcfo.net/

Grow CFO Competency Framework https://www.growcfo.net/growcfo-competency-framework/

Career routes to the CFO https://www.growcfo.net/research/career-routes-to-cfo-2022-report/

Watch the full show on YouTube

Read the full transcript and blog

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