Your first 100 days as a new Chief Financial Officer set the trajectory for your full tenure. This hub is here to help you make them count. Drawing on interviews with finance leaders and insights from our biannual survey of 500 CFOs, you will find clear, practical guidance on the decisions that matter most in your opening months: from getting ahead of regulatory demands to building the foundations of a high‑performing finance function.
No two CFO roles look the same. But the early moves that build trust and set you up for success are surprisingly universal. We’ve zeroed in on the actions seasoned CFOs say make the biggest difference from day one.
Simon Davidson, Head of Finance Consulting
Digitisation has become a baseline expectation for modern finance functions. Finance leaders who invest time in understanding their technology landscape can release capacity for higher-value analysis, improved data integrity and sharpen their strategic influence.
Your goal in the first 100 days isn’t perfection; it’s laying the foundations for long‑term success. To help you stay grounded and avoid overwhelm, here are six practical tips distilled from conversations with CFOs who’ve already walked this path.
Your first 100 days give you a powerful foundation. By this stage, you can see how the organisation operates, where value is created, where it’s lost, and how finance can influence the future.
As a new CFO, you’ll need to assess the strength of current operations, from cyber security to tax planning, and identify any opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness to add value to the business.
For a new CFO, financial reporting is your first real test of whether the organisation you’ve inherited is capable of supporting decisive leadership.
In your first 100 days, relationships are not a “soft skill”, they’re a strategic enabler. Your ability to gain buy‑in, accelerate decision‑making, and lead change later depends on the depth of trust you establish now, across every level of the business.
How new CFOs can build trust in their first 100 days, create stability, strengthen team culture, and attract and retain high‑performing finance talent.
If you’re new to the business, getting under the skin of the organisation’s mission, strategy and operating reality is one of the most valuable things you can do. It sounds obvious, but the challenge is protecting time to do it amid inbox avalanche
Your early grip on reporting, risk and compliance shapes everything — the quality of decisions, the speed the business can move, and the trust the Board places in your judgement. Get this right, and the rest of your agenda moves faster.
