CFO · interview questions
CFO interview questions
The short answer · updated
A good CFO interview tests financial strategy and judgement, command of the numbers and the cash, leading a finance team, working with the board, audit committee and investors, and evidence from past roles of problems like yours. Ask every candidate the same core questions, press for specific examples, and check what they claim.
Questions about strategy
Write the questions before the interviews, from the CFO job description and the finance problem the role must solve. Acas advises preparing a set of questions, asking each applicant the same ones where possible, and interviewing with more than one person. The ICAEW lists a strategic mindset and the ability to challenge and persuade among the qualities the role needs, so test for both.
- “What would you want to know about this business before you set its financial strategy?” A strong answer diagnoses before it prescribes: cash, margin, customers, funding and the plan the board has already approved.
- “Tell us about a time you changed a company’s direction because of what the numbers showed.” Look for a specific decision, the evidence behind it and the result, not finance as a reporting service.
- “How would you choose between funding growth with equity, debt or cash from operations?” A strong answer weighs cost, control, covenants and timing for this company’s stage rather than reciting a preference.
- “Which investment or acquisition you recommended would you not make again, and why?” Honesty and learning. A candidate with no misses has either not taken decisions or not reviewed them.
- “How do you build a forecast the board can make decisions on?” Drivers, stated assumptions, scenarios, and how actuals are tracked against it every month.
- “Which financial risks would you look for first in a company like ours?” Shows preparation: the candidate has read the accounts and can name risks specific to the sector and model.
- “How do you work with the CEO when you disagree with the plan?” Challenge in private, a clear view of when the board must hear it, and loyalty to the numbers.
Questions about the numbers
These questions test whether the candidate knows the mechanics as well as the strategy. Ask for the last real example, not a general method.
- “Talk us through the last management accounts you signed off. What did the board need to see first?” Prioritisation, and a command of their own numbers without notes.
- “What do you do when the cash forecast turns out to be wrong?” A short-term cash view, working-capital levers, and early word to lenders and the board.
- “Describe an audit that went badly. What did you change?” Ownership of the controls and the auditor relationship, and a fix that lasted.
- “Which controls would you check in your first month, and how?” Reconciliations, approvals, segregation of duties and fraud risk, checked by testing rather than asking.
- “How have you handled a covenant breach or a near miss?” An early conversation with the lender, the options set out, and what the board was told and when.
- “Which finance system decisions have you made, and what would you do differently?” Judgement on systems and data, and whether the change was delivered.
- “Who owns tax compliance in your current role, and how do you know it is right?” Clear ownership, advisers used well, and the Senior Accounting Officer duty where it applies.
Questions about leadership and the team
A CFO leads the finance team and works across the business. Ask how they have done both.
- “Tell us about the finance team you built most recently. Who did you hire first, and why?” A view of what the function needed, in order, and the reasons.
- “How have you handled someone in the team who was not performing?” Fairness, speed and a clear record, with support offered before action.
- “How would you develop a financial controller into a future CFO?” Delegation, exposure to the board, and a plan the candidate has actually used.
- “Describe a time you changed how finance works with sales or operations.” Business partnering in practice: what changed for the other team, not only for finance.
- “What would your last team say you should do differently?” Self-awareness and a real answer, not a strength presented as a weakness.
- “How do you divide your time between the team, the board and the rest of the business?” Evidence they know where a CFO’s time goes, and when it should shift.
Questions about the board and governance
The CFO presents the numbers at every board meeting. In a listed company the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code applies on a comply-or-explain basis, and Provision 29 asks the board to declare whether its material internal controls are effective; a private company may not be bound by the Code, but its board still needs controls it can rely on.
- “What should a board finance pack contain, and what should it leave out?” Focus on decisions, a short commentary, and the numbers the board acts on.
- “Tell us about a time you gave the board bad news. How and when did you tell them?” Early, plain, with the options, and without waiting for the next scheduled meeting.
- “How do you work with an audit committee and its chair?” Regular contact outside meetings, no surprises, and respect for the committee’s independence.
- “How would you help a board stand behind a declaration on its internal controls?” A framework, testing and evidence, and an honest account of the gaps.
- “What do investors and lenders need from you between board meetings?” Reporting they can rely on, a steady voice, and early warning.
- “When would you go to the chair rather than the CEO?” A clear, principled line on escalation, and an example of when they drew it.
- “Have you served as a company director, and how did it change the way you worked?” An understanding that directors’ duties sit with the person, not the adviser they hire.
Questions for a fractional or interim CFO
A fractional CFO works a set number of days a week or month; an interim CFO works full-time for a fixed period. The interview should test how they will spend limited time and how they will leave. Our page on how to hire a fractional CFO sets out how each engagement works.
A CFO working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the contract’s label, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
- “How many days would this role need, and what would you do with them?” They size the job from the brief rather than accepting the number offered.
- “What would you deliver in the first 90 days?” Specific outcomes: a forecast the board uses, a board pack, a funding plan, an audit closed.
- “What would you own, and what stays with the financial controller or bookkeeper?” A clear split, so the routine work continues on the days they are not in.
- “How would you hand over at the end of the engagement?” Documentation, a successor or permanent hire in view, and nothing left only in their head.
- “Would you be a director or officer, and what would that change?” An understanding of the duties and of the Senior Accounting Officer rule where it applies.
- “How would the engagement run day to day, and how do you expect IR35 status to be assessed?” A realistic account of control, substitution and working practice, without a promised outcome.
Questions a candidate should ask
Acas advises ending each interview by asking the applicant if they have any questions. A CFO candidate should use that time well; these questions also tell the hirer how seriously the candidate has thought about the role. For the route into the role, see how to become a CFO.
- “What is the finance problem this role must solve in its first year?”
- “Who does the CFO report to, and does the role carry a board seat?”
- “What did the last audit and the auditor’s management letter raise?”
- “What is the cash position, and how is the business funded?”
- “How do the CEO and the chair divide their work, and how does the board take decisions?”
- “For a fractional or interim role: how many days, which outcomes, and how will IR35 status be decided?”
How we assess candidates
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a CFO brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. For a permanent appointment, see our CFO headhunter page.
Whoever runs the process, check the qualification with the body that awarded it. The ICAEW’s online member directory is a free way to verify ICAEW membership.
Questions people ask
What questions should you ask a CFO in an interview?
Ask about financial strategy and judgement, the numbers and the cash, leading a finance team, the board and governance, and specific problems they have solved that resemble yours. Ask every candidate the same core questions and press for real examples.
What questions should you not ask in a CFO interview?
Nothing about a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, such as age, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, religion or sexual orientation, and nothing about children or plans to have them. Health and disability questions are allowed only where an exception applies, such as reasonable adjustments. See Acas on discrimination law in recruitment and GOV.UK on questions you cannot ask.
Who should interview a CFO?
The CEO, the chair and, where there is one, the audit committee chair, with at least one investor or non-executive director where they have a stake in the appointment. Acas advises that more than one person interviews, to reduce the risk of discrimination. See Acas on interviewing.
How should a candidate prepare for a CFO interview?
Read the accounts and any filings, work out the finance problem the role must solve, and prepare specific examples of solving it elsewhere, with the numbers you are free to share. Prepare your own questions for the board. See how to become a CFO.
How is interviewing a fractional CFO different?
Test how they would use limited days, what they would deliver in the first 90 days, what stays with the in-house team, and how they would hand over. See how to hire a fractional CFO.
How do I hire a CFO?
Define the finance problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, interview every candidate against it, and check qualifications and references. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. See how to hire a fractional CFO.
