Best CFO CV Examples, Template & Guide for 2025

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.

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.

 

 

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

 

 

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. How to write a CV summary? 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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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

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.