When a business starts recruiting a CFO, the focus is usually on the wishlist. Strategic leadership, commercial thinking, good with data, strong communicator, financially disciplined. There is a long list of qualities people hope to gain. What rarely gets discussed is the other side of the equation. A CFO is a significant investment. Locally, most experienced CFOs sit in the R2 million to R6 million salary range, with solid talent around R3.5 million. At that level, it is just as important to know what you should avoid as what you want.
A common mistake is hiring someone who gets lost in the details. If the finance leader spends most of their time fixing journals or chasing paperwork, then no one is driving the bigger agenda. The CFO should lift the operating rhythm of the finance function so that routine work runs reliably without them.
Another risk is the finance specialist who sees numbers as the entire job. Finance is not an island. The role touches commercial strategy, pricing, procurement, operations, customer profitability and cash flow. If the CFO is not engaging with the wider business, they are reporting history rather than shaping the future.
There is also the version of a CFO who hides in the back office. A finance leader needs to get into the field, hear what customers are saying, challenge supplier pricing and understand how sales actually happen. You cannot manage margin without seeing where it is made and where it is lost.
The biggest problem of all is losing sight of strategy. A CFO is not there to keep the score. They are there to influence the game. If the financial model does not link clearly to the business plan, the numbers become academic. The strongest finance leaders ensure budgets, forecasts and cash planning reflect a path to growth that the company can execute.
Closed thinking is another warning sign. A CFO who arrives convinced they already know the answer, or relies only on experience rather than data, will eventually slow the company down. A healthy finance culture is curious. It tests assumptions, looks at the numbers, and changes course when the evidence shifts.
The same applies to spending. Being cautious is easy. The more valuable skill is disciplined capital allocation. A business needs someone who knows when to invest, how to measure success and when to call time if the expected return does not arrive.
Risk management is similar. Eliminating risk is impossible. Pricing and managing it are what matter. The job is to build the right controls, understand exposure and make smarter decisions, not simply default to “no”.
Another trap is focusing only on cost-cutting. Cutting costs might protect short-term results, but it does not create growth. The real value is in improving revenue quality, strengthening margins, building customer lifetime value and understanding which products or channels actually deliver profit.
And finally, good advice must be backed by numbers. If insight cannot be supported with evidence, measured over time and linked to actual decisions, it becomes opinion rather than leadership.
Hiring a CFO is not about finding a well-qualified accountant. It is about finding someone who helps the organisation think and act smarter. For many businesses, a fractional CFO becomes a practical alternative to a full-time appointment, particularly while the company defines what it truly needs at the executive level. The advantage is access to senior experience without taking on a permanent headcount before the foundations are in place.
Thinking about what a CFO should not do is just as important as thinking about what they should bring. The wrong hire keeps the numbers clean and the business stagnant. The right hire changes the trajectory.
Written by Rowan de Klerk, CEO and Founder of The CFO Centre South Africa. Feel free to subscribe to his monthly LinkedIn Newsletter, where he explores leadership, performance and financial strategy, and join the conversation: Subscribe on LinkedIn