Key takeaways
- A CFO owns planning, reporting, cash, funding and financial risk.
- A controller runs the accounts; a finance director often runs finance below, or instead of, a CFO.
- Most CFOs control spend through budgets and limits rather than reviewing every purchase.
- Bring a CFO the full cost, a payback case and clear contract terms, not a feature tour.
What are a CFO's responsibilities
A CFO's responsibilities cover the whole financial life of the company, from the annual plan to the cash in the bank. The finance team does the detailed work; the CFO owns the decisions and answers for them.
- Set the budget and the longer-range financial plan
- Report results to the board, investors and regulators
- Manage cash, banking and funding
- Run financial controls, audit and tax
- Approve major spend, contracts and investments
- Model the effect of pricing, hiring and other large decisions
CFO vs finance director and controller
A CFO is the most senior finance executive; a finance director and a financial controller usually sit below the CFO, or cover part of the role in smaller firms. The titles overlap, so check who signs the accounts and who sits on the leadership team.
- Financial controller: owns the books, the month-end close, payables, receivables and controls.
- Finance director: runs the finance function; in many UK companies the top finance role and a board director.
- CFO: adds strategy, funding, investor relations and a seat on the executive team.
How does a CFO approve spend
A CFO approves most spend indirectly, by setting budgets and approval limits that other leaders work within. Only purchases above a threshold, outside the budget or with long commitments reach the CFO in person.
That shapes where a deal stalls. A head of sales may agree a tool within their own budget without finance, but a multi-year contract or a new budget line goes to the CFO's team, which asks about total cost, payment terms, what the purchase replaces and how its value will be judged. Procurement and legal often join at the same moment.
What does a CFO want from a seller
A CFO wants a clear cost, a credible case for the return and no surprises in the contract. They are rarely the first person to evaluate a product but often the last to approve it.
Prepare a one-page summary your champion can forward: the problem, the full cost including set-up and seats, the payback in the customer's own terms and what happens to existing spend. Avoid inflated return figures. A CFO will test the assumptions, and an honest range survives that test better than a bold number.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityResearch & analysisBefore a finance conversation, an assistant can research a company's website and public sources, such as annual reports and news, and return findings with numbered citations.
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsFind fresh leads takes a role such as chief financial officer, a location and up to ten named companies, and returns leads from Pebbles Ai's own GDPR-compliant B2B contact database, with work emails where found.
Common questions
Who does a CFO report to?
The chief executive and, through the board or its audit committee, the company's directors and shareholders.
Does every company have a CFO?
No. Small firms often rely on an external accountant, a financial controller or a part-time CFO until investors, funding or complexity call for a full-time finance executive.
When should you involve the CFO in a deal?
When the purchase is above your buyer's own approval limit, needs a new budget line or carries a long commitment. Ask your champion early who signs at that size, so finance is not a late surprise.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
