CFO resume example

What recruiters look for

• Capital events: IPOs, debt raises, refinancings, equity rounds, sale processes. Give the size and the outcome.
• Reporting and control: SEC filings, SOX, audit results, close speed, restatements avoided. Audit committees read this first.
• Partnership with the CEO: strategy, acquisitions, capital allocation. A modern CFO is the CEO’s closest business partner, not only the head of accounting.
• Scope of the function: which teams report to you (FP&A, treasury, tax, IR, IT, procurement) and how many people.
• Investor credibility: guidance accuracy, analyst coverage, lender relationships.

Writing the summary

Lead with your years and the size and ownership of the companies you have served, then the capital events you have led with dollar figures. Put CPA or CFA in the headline if you hold it; many CFO searches screen for it.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Cut days sales outstanding from 58 to 41 in 18 months, releasing $36 million in cash.
• Led a sale process with 9 bidders that closed at 14.5x EBITDA, 2 turns above the sponsor’s target.
• Restructured $450 million of debt during a covenant breach, avoiding bankruptcy and keeping all 3,200 jobs.
• Built a zero-based budgeting program that removed $27 million of annual overhead with no reduction in service levels.
• Moved guidance accuracy to within 1% of revenue for 10 consecutive quarters after the IPO.
• Implemented a new ERP across 14 entities in 11 months, on budget at $8.5 million.
• Designed the pricing review that raised gross margin 3.4 points on the 200 largest contracts.
• Reduced the effective tax rate from 27% to 22% through a legal entity restructuring with outside counsel.
• Presented quarterly to the audit committee for 6 years with no significant deficiencies reported by the external auditor.
• Built an FP&A team of 12 and a rolling 18-month forecast the board now uses for every capital decision.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA): licensed by a state board of accountancy; many public company CFO searches expect it, and audit committees value it.
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA): helpful for CFOs with a capital markets, investment or banking background.
• Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) or Certified Management Accountant (CMA): relevant where the role leans on FP&A and cost management.
• Audit committee financial expert status is not a certification, but if you have served as one on a board, mention it under board service.

Length and format

Two pages. Put credentials in the headline (“Chief Financial Officer, CPA”) and capital events in the first bullets of each role. Controller and audit roles from early in your career can take a line or two each. A certifications section with the issuing state board is standard for CPAs.

Common mistakes

• Writing like a controller: close, reconciliations and reporting only, with nothing about strategy, capital or the CEO partnership.
• Giving deal sizes without outcomes. Say what the refinancing saved or what multiple the sale achieved.
• Quoting confidential forecasts or unannounced deals. Use published results, percentages or ranges.
• Leaving out which functions report to you. IT, procurement and revenue cycle under a CFO change the picture of your scope.
• Burying a CPA licence at the bottom of page two when the search firm screens on it first.