The CFO’s toughest role: Demystifying financial performance

Financial leaders need to become translators from the world of numbers to the world of business

Here's a little secret about CFOs: we all suffer from imposter syndrome.

Our whole career we've been encouraged to stay in our lane, with the spreadsheets and the cash-flow statements. This means CFOs can be scared of talking about operational performance, leaving it to the CEOs, CTOs or CROs. But businesses need a clear link between operational performance – driven by the myriad small decisions taken across a business every day – and the revenue produced at the end of the quarter.

In my eight years as a CFO, I've come to understand the role's key function as bridging this gap: I want to be a translator between the world of financial performance and the world of operational performance.

Tying financial performance to operational performance

Practically speaking, I've come to believe that making this link between operations and finances comes down to setting effective goals.

There are many frameworks for goal-setting, but the one I like most is the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) system used by Google and many other leading tech firms. Objectives set big goals for the business. Key Results outline stepping stones to achieve those goals and – from a finance perspective – often align nicely with items in annual budgets.

OKRs are not supposed to be financial goals, so OKR purists hate it when CFOs like me get involved. But it's my job to help connect the dots from these OKRs to the company's financial performance.

Setting KPIs

A typical business will gush with numbers. Our role in the finance team is to stop co-workers from becoming overwhelmed. We need to bring clarity and focus by paring back the distractions.

How this functions in practice will vary depending on where you work. By law, public companies have to publish a lot of data. But private companies – which represent the vast majority of businesses – have much more discretion. The challenge of leading the finance team is to give colleagues insight into their company's performance without swamping them or slipping into technical language that might go over their heads.

When I arrived at Spendesk, I peeked at our data room, and it had literally hundreds of KPIs. We've been on a mission to trim that back ever since. As a business, when you're looking at many things, it means you're looking at nothing in particular. Proper KPIs allow you to prioritise.

Many well-run businesses have only one or two company-level KPIs. In my previous career in the automotive industry, for example, we had a top-level target called "Nissan Power 88": reach 8% of global market share and 8% operating profit margin. Many SaaS businesses target the "rule of 40", where you add your revenue growth rate to your EBITDA margin and aim for it to top 40.

At Spendesk, I'm pleased to report that we've trimmed our KPIs for 2026 to 15 – but, personally, I'd like to reduce that even further in the coming years. In time, I hope we can find one company-wide number that incorporates both short-term and long-term growth.

Educating non-finance people

Finance is full of technical terms that are often misunderstood. EBITDA, for example, feels like something from The Wolf of Wall Street. While finance folk may think it makes them sound sophisticated, there are so many moving parts to this measure of profitability that regular folks can treat it with suspicion.

Free cash flow is another term that non-finance people will often greet with blank stares. And in the world of SaaS, it's hard to have a meeting without somebody mentioning ARR (annual recurring revenue). Just don't ask them to define it!

As CFO, I see it as part of my role to bring a bit more financial acumen to all employees, which in the end will be good for the whole company.

I like "finance for non-finance people" training courses. These are particularly handy for newly promoted managers, who need to understand how profits are created. There's also a role for CFOs to sprinkle a little financial learning into regular meetings, like company town halls.

Why transparency is key

When reporting back on KPIs, consistency and transparency are key. It's essential to share the same numbers with colleagues each period, whether they're good or bad. When the numbers take a turn for the worse, some leaders stop sharing them. This isn't helpful to anyone. We as CFOs have to push our fellow leaders to share key data, even when it's not so good.

By keeping the rest of the leadership team honest and acting as financial translators, CFOs can bring huge value to their employers.

There's always a danger that CFOs are perceived as technicians who can't simplify or tell stories. But if we can learn to set compelling KPIs and explain key financial terms to the rest of the business, we can become essential translators that keep everyone abreast of how their company is running, day in and day out.

As a CFO, what financial terms do you find colleagues struggle most with? Have you ever been pushed forward to deliver the bad news while other members of the C-suite deliver the good news? I'd love to hear your experiences.