Vice president of finance resume example

What recruiters look for

• Company scale and stage: revenue, ownership (venture, private equity, public) and growth while you were there.
• Capital raised and managed: equity rounds, credit facilities, covenants and lender relationships.
• Operating impact: margin, cash and profitability decisions you led, not just reported.
• A tight finance function: close speed, audit results and the systems you put in place.
• Team and leadership: the size and scope of the team you built, and who you report to.
• Readiness for CFO: board work, M&A and investor communication.

Writing the summary

Lead with years, the type of company and its size. Then two or three of your biggest outcomes in numbers: capital raised, growth supported, team built. If you are aiming at CFO, end with the scope you want next.

Bullet points that work

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

• Led the finance workstream in the company’s sale to a strategic buyer at 14x EBITDA, handling 2,000 diligence requests.
• Renegotiated the senior credit facility, cutting the interest margin by 75 basis points and adding a $30 million accordion.
• Built a 13-week cash forecast and working capital program that freed $11 million of cash in 9 months.
• Rolled out Adaptive Planning and a driver-based budget, shortening the annual plan from 4 months to 6 weeks.
• Integrated 6 acquisitions into one chart of accounts and ERP, each within 90 days of closing.
• Delivered 3 clean audits in a row after inheriting 2 material weaknesses.
• Reduced days sales outstanding from 58 to 41 by rebuilding billing and collections with the revenue cycle team.
• Created the company’s first board finance package and KPI dashboard, now used at every quarterly meeting.
• Cut vendor and software spend by $2.8 million a year through a zero-based review of 400 contracts.
• Hired a controller and an FP&A director who now run the close and the plan without day-to-day involvement from me.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• CPA: common and valued at this level, especially with an audit background; give the state where you are licensed.
• CMA: a strong signal in operations-heavy businesses.
• CFA charter: relevant where investor relations or capital markets work is central.
• An MBA is common but not required; list it under education.

Length and format

Two pages. Page one: summary, the current role with five or six bullets and the start of the previous role. Page two: earlier roles, education, the CPA and a short skills list. Audit or banking years from early in your career can be one or two lines.

Common mistakes

• Describing the job as a list of departments you oversee. Show what changed under your leadership.
• No company context. A VP of finance at a $30 million startup and at a $1 billion division do very different jobs.
• Leaving out capital raising and lenders, which are often the main reasons a company hires this role.
• Too much technical accounting detail. At this level, give the outcome: a clean audit, a faster close.
• Generic leadership phrases such as “strategic visionary”. Use team size, hires and promotions instead.