Stunning CFO CV Examples for You to Use

A CFO is in charge of the most important financial aspects of a company. How can you write a CV that helps you attain this position?

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CFO CV example

CFO CV examples

A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is one of the most prominent roles in any given company. The Chief Financial Officer is in charge of an organizations’ financial moves, which naturally has an impact on company success. If you’re applying for this job, you need to show off experiences and skills that demonstrate to recruiters that you have the right stuff to help an organization. Here’s what you need to know about creating a great CV as a CFO.

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What to highlight in a CFO CV?

The Chief Financial Officer is part of the C-level or C-suite of jobs, a group of people on the executive level of any given company. That means it’s a good idea to include elements that prove you’re ready for senior management. This may include past experience in a management team, certifications that showcase your skills, and a general understanding of business management. A CFO CV will take all of these elements and combine them into a seamless structure.

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Structure of a CFO CV

Your CV structure will depend on the CV format you use. The three typical formats are chronological, functional, and combination, and how appropriate each is for you depends on your skills and job experience. Because a CFO is such a high-level job, you’ll typically go for the chronological format when writing your CV, as it stresses your previous experiences and career highlights. Here’s how you should structure your CV.

Header

First is your CV header. This header showcases your full name, phone number, and professional portfolio links such as your LinkedIn profile.

Professional summary

Next is your summary. This is a two-to-three-sentence paragraph at the top of your CV where you explain your best skills and career experiences. Think of this section as your “elevator pitch” in which you explain to a board of directors why you’re the right person for the job.

Skills

There are a wide variety of skills you can highlight on your CV; here are some of the most prominent skills to showcase for a CFO budget.

Balancing budgets
Financial reporting and financial statements management
Financial planning
Forecasting future budgets
Managing cash flow
Cash management
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
General financial management
Understanding metrics
Strategic planning with annual revenue
Utilising an accounting system
Risk management
Financial analysis
Business development and optimization
Accounts payable and receivable
Project management
Interpersonal skills
Leadership
Problem-solving

Note that this list includes both hard skills and soft skills in this list – both types of skills are crucial for an executive position like CFO.

Work history

Your work experience section should showcase positions that show career growth and progress. You’ll typically want to include at least the last 10 years in the field you’re applying to, with key achievements listed under each previous job. List your professional experience in reverse chronological order, with the most recent job title first.

Education

List your top education credential (e.g., Master of Business Administration (MBA)), along with any related certifications (e.g., Certified Public Accountant (CPA)).

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Dos and don’ts for a CFO CV

Do:

Feature programmes and initiatives that you’ve worked on at previous jobs. These can indicate that you have experience in management and leadership.
List experience in all sorts of jobs, including start-ups, long-established jobs, and volunteer work. This can help you showcase that you’re flexible and good at working in many different contexts.
Discuss how you’ve used your skills to benefit companies. When hiring a CFO, a recruiter wants to know the CFO is going to make the company better.

Don’t:

Include irrelevant job experience, especially from long ago. In such a high-level application, you should only feature experience that has a direct bearing on what the job needs.
Include long lists of skills. You should typically list about a dozen skills at most.
State that references are available upon request. At this level in your career, it’ll be obvious that you have references available, and recruiters know they can request those references from you.

FAQ: CFO CV

Q: Do I need to include a cover letter for a CFO application?

Yes. If you’re interested in getting the job, you need a cover letter. A letter can help provide more context to your career achievements and top skills, give you the opportunity to explain how you can benefit the company you want to work for and serve as an important connection to the hiring manager. Use the CVHelp cover letter builder to help create your letter and put your best foot forward.

Q: How can I leverage past experience into a CFO job?

CFO positions need lots of experience. However, that experience doesn’t have to have been as a CFO in another company. Showcase the highest-level experience that you can, even if it’s not as a CFO, then use the descriptions for each job to show how your experience will transfer into being a CFO. If you held a vice president position, for example, that can be relevant to your CV, as you’ll be making many of the same decisions.

Q: How do I change my CFO resume to apply to different jobs?

A great way to make sure your CFO CV is tailored to each individual job is to make sure you’re keeping CV keywords in mind. These are phrases in the job description tied to major skill and experience requirements (e.g., “project management” or “handling annual and capital budgets”) that help you understand what a recruiter is looking for in a candidate, which you can then use to reflect that image at the recruiter. When you combine that with the efficacy of a CV builder, it’s easier to make sure a recruiter looks at your application more than once.

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