INTHEBLACK June 2026 - Magazine - Page 28
F E AT U R E
“To be a good CFO, you need to be very broad. You need to have
an understanding of treasury, tax, financial control, accounting
and strategy. For a listed entity, you need investor relations
experience and the ability to speak to the market. Increasingly,
you need operational experience as well, because the CFO has
become the second-in-charge and the adviser to the CEO.”
MARK FLEMING CPA, VENTIA
numbers,” says Hamish Smith, a director
at Robert Walters. “Effective finance leaders
understand how the organisation generates
revenue, how products or services go to
market and where efficiencies can be created.
That commercial insight allows them to play
a far more active role in shaping strategy.”
Successful CFOs need strong commercial
acumen, clear communication skills and
the ability to influence stakeholders.
The finance function is changing rapidly,
and technology and AI are also part of
the CFO’s day-to-day remit.
“Boards expect finance leaders to be
comfortable using AI to improve forecasting
and analytics and to understand how
emerging technologies impact the wider
business,” he says.
Succession planning is also a factor
in accounting firms’ valuations.
THINK LONG-TERM
Given the complexity of the CFO position,
setting up a company for long-term success
means establishing talent pipelines.
“Then, it is not a big drama if someone
leaves, because for every role in the finance
team three levels under the CFO, there are
three or four high-potential employees who
have been flagged as potential candidates,”
says Fleming.
Having identified potential CFOs
and discussed the pathway with them,
it is then up to the business to deliver on
this ambition, providing the candidate’s
performance continues. Otherwise, there
is a risk that the potential candidate may
look elsewhere. Throughout the process,
a succession timeline is essential. The way
this looks varies depending on the nature
of the business.
“Over that timeline, you build up the skills
and experience the successor needs and
gradually transfer the role of the incumbent
over to the successor,” says Sue Prestney,
principal at Sue Prestney & Associates.
28 INTHEBLACK June 2026
“Start with the end in mind. You need
to have some basis for knowing when
the final transition will take place
and you need to understand what
the incumbent wants.
“The incumbent CFO may be happy
to reduce the number of days worked and
then the successor can gradually build up
their days in the role as their skills grow,
but have that difficult conversation with the
incumbent,” she continues. “This also assumes
everybody is happy with the incumbent — if
they are not, this transition is going to
happen a lot faster.”
Dubai-based
Ralph Khoury FCPA,
CFO of the MENA
region at WPP Media,
points out how vital
it is for CFOs to
have a competent
second-incommand.
“Not only a
strong 2IC, but
many others too,
because you are
only as good as
your whole finance
team,” says Khoury,
who is a proponent
of mentoring for
developing junior
staff members.
“Give them a taste of
responsible authority,
even a baptism of fire,
just so they can see
how they stack up
when the pressure is
on, and offer support
where appropriate. Then
everyone wins, because
they get the experience
and you can see where they
need development.”
