The CFO role is getting more challenging by the day. Historically, your primary responsibility was fiduciary oversight and cost control. That led to the natural evolution of saying “no” to most budget requests and becoming a CFNo. For example, when marketing asks to increase its spending to help boost revenue, you answer no. Or when IT recommends updating an outdated system, you do not respond this year. And when sales or product development requests additional staffing, you reply that we can’t afford that right now.

That traditional role is no longer enough, as the majority of organizations are now looking for their CFO to evolve to be Enterprise Value Creators. In this new role, CFOs must go from being a CFNo to a CFGo. It is no longer enough to manage cash and costs; CFOs must be leading the organizational charge toward sustainable growth.

Why Being a CFNo Is a Problem

Yes, CFOs have to make hard decisions, and turning down funding requests is a huge part of the job. But when the answer is typically an automatic no, despite any request’s genuine merits, your fiscal caution may actually be doing more harm than good to the company you work for.

The CFNo Effect on the Company

When the CFO repeatedly and predictably says no to everything, the company is bound to get stuck in an unpleasant status quo that involves one or more of the following features:

• Slow or stagnant revenue growth

• Zero or minimal innovation

• Frustrated attempts to attract quality talent

• Outdated and inefficient systems and processes

• Trouble meeting customers’ expectations

• Inability to pivot when conditions change

What It Takes to Become a CFGo

If you want to be the opposite of a CFNo, in other words, a CFGo who’s in a position to green-light capital decisions, you need to make some changes that help you more easily and effectively understand the potential impact of each investment opportunity. Those changes include:

• Technology Investment: It starts with investing in yourself and your team. Leading your team’s digital transformation will enable you and your team to transform from tactical to strategic. By leveraging new technologies, your team will no longer be shacked by overly manual processes and will have the newfound capacity to partner with the business to identify the best growth opportunities.

• Real-Time Reporting: To effectively know which investment opportunities are worthy, you and the organization need real-time insights. Investing in tools that provide you with actionable insights is the key to saying yes to the right solutions with confidence.

• Strive to be positive: Implement smart accounts receivable and payable strategies that help the company achieve a free cash flow positive state rather than a negative one.

• Ditch outdated A/R processes: Manual accounts receivable processes are costing you more than you think compared to automated AR.

Tesorio’s Cash Flow Performance Platform gives you the power as CFO to say yes to initiatives that will help you not only grow the company but also your career. Curious how Tesorio can make you a more strategic CFO? Contact us today for your Tesorio demo.