With the ‘rise’ in hiring of step-up finance candidates into the CFO seat in Private Equity, and with businesses planning for future succession, what makes someone ready for the jump and what are the key considerations to be successful once the move is made?

Jason Shaw, Partner in the CFO & Private Equity Practice at Eton Bridge spoke to a number of Finance Operating Partners in mid-market Private Equity firms to gather their perspectives. In this piece, he shares key insights on what it takes to make the leap and land it well.

Skills and experience for CFO readiness

To be seriously considered for a CFO role, a finance professional needs to be able to demonstrate breadth of experience as well as depth. It’s no longer sufficient to excel in a singular discipline such as FP&A or controllership. Though there tends to a be bias from deal teams toward FP&A background, the ideal candidate brings:

• A well-rounded finance background: Encompassing accounting fundamentals, FP&A, treasury, tax, and risk management is essential. The accounting experience doesn’t necessarily need to be recent, but a CFO needs to be able to understand the root cause of a problem, so there needs to be an understanding of how data and processes are built.
• Exposure to exits, transactions (buy or sell side), or quality of earnings (QoE): To demonstrate there is already an understanding of value creation and investor expectations.
• Capability in financial operations: There is an expectation of lean, timely closings and a grasp of cash forecasting, cost, and working capital levers.
• Presentation competence: The ability to articulate complex financial concepts simply and persuasively to boards, investors, and leadership teams.

Finally, it is equally important to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Great CFOs stay close to the business. They understand the story behind the numbers and know how to shape that story with commercial insight.

What are the challenges of transitioning to the CFO role?

The move from CFO-1 to CFO isn’t just a promotion – it’s a transformation in scope, visibility, and influence.

Some of the key challenges include:

• Stepping beyond functional silos: A CFO must engage across the business, not just within finance. This includes commercial collaboration, strategic input, and operational oversight.
• Handling increased complexity and ambiguity: New CFOs face issues that range from investor relations and legal structures to regulatory filings and tax strategy.
• Communication shift: A CFO must shift from technical detail to high-impact narrative. Boards don’t want granular slides, they want clarity, solutions, and value implications.
• Leadership recalibration: As CFO, it’s imperative to build a strong finance leadership below to resist the urge to revert to previous responsibilities. The role must elevate and not replicate.

A major pitfall is underestimating cash flow management, particularly forecasting. Many finance professionals, in particular from FP&A backgrounds, have strong P&L acumen, but lack sufficient command of the balance sheet and cash flow. Liquidity is foundational, both to business survival and for strategic flexibility.

The mindset and behaviours of a successful CFO

Stepping into the CFO role requires more than expanded responsibility – it demands a fundamental shift in mindset and leadership behaviour. At CFO-1 level, the focus is often on execution and team delivery. As CFO, the focus must evolve to broader influence, business leadership, and enterprise-wide thinking.

Key CFO mindset shifts include:

• Expanding perspective: The CFO must see the whole business and connect finance with operations.
• Influence over execution: Guide decisions, shape strategy, and support others rather than being the one “doing the doing.” Trust must be built with non-finance stakeholders by showing that finance can enable, not block, progress.
• External and forward-looking orientation: CFOs need to think ahead, challenge assumptions, and engage across functions which may sometimes need to be prioritised over their own team.
• Storytelling: CFOs need to be able to sell the equity story and communicate value creation clearly to a variety of different stakeholders.

Equally critical are the behaviours that define successful CFOs:

• Curiosity: A constant desire to understand why things happen and how the business really works.
• Low ego, high impact: The best CFOs are approachable, collaborative, and confident enough to challenge or support the CEO as needed.
• Listening: Strong CFOs can listen more than they speak. This builds trust, surfaces better insights, and enables better decision-making.
• People leadership: A successful CFO has usually built and inspired high-performing teams. Leadership is often judged by whether great people would follow them again.
•  Clear communication: The ability to make complex financial issues digestible to different audiences – from investors to frontline teams.

Ultimately, mindset and behaviour determine how effectively a CFO leads, influences, and drives value at the top table.

Defining the modern CFO: Clarifying the role and responsibilities

As the role of the CFO continues to evolve, future finance leaders must be equipped with more than just technical expertise. They need a strategic mindset and a clear understanding of their broad remit. The modern CFO is expected to balance operational efficiency with long-term value creation, acting as both a guardian of financial integrity and a driver of business performance. With so many competing demands, it’s essential for CFOs to have structured ways to define their responsibilities and prioritise where to focus.

Two well-established frameworks provide exactly that:

1 – The four faces of the CFO: Steward, operator, strategist, and catalyst. Effective CFOs need to be able to wear all 4 hats; over-indexing on one dimension often results in underperformance elsewhere. See Deloitte’s Four faces of the CFO.

 2 – The 4 Cs:

• Cash: Liquidity, liquidity, liquidity. Master it whilst understanding short term cash flow forecasting.
• Cost: Understand the activities that drive value and what doesn’t. Eliminate the non-value adding activities.
• Complexity: Product profitability – 80% of your profit often comes from 20% of your product or services, so for the other 20% what needs to be done differently?
• Collaboration: Don’t reinvent every problem yourself, know when to ask for help.

This helps CFOs focus on what really matters. It gives CFOs a clear, well-rounded approach to making smart decisions and driving long-term success across the business.

While many businesses instinctively look for experienced CFOs, it can absolutely be the right decision to hire a step-up candidate – provided they bring the right mindset, attitude, and breadth of experience. The title matters less than their ability to think strategically, lead with confidence, and operate with both commercial sharpness and financial discipline. If a candidate demonstrates leadership presence, strong stakeholder credibility, and a track record of delivering impact, they can succeed in the seat – even if they haven’t held it before. When thinking about succession planning, it is important to set up your heir for success by providing them with the right exposure before they will be expected or considered for the transition.

At Eton Bridge Partners, we work closely with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to identify and place the senior leadership talent needed at every stage of the investment lifecycle.

Get in touch to discuss how we can support your leadership needs and help drive value creation across your portfolio. Whether you’re preparing for investment, managing growth, or planning an exit, our expert team is here to help.