Waiting for CFO approval

CFOs are busy. Very busy. It’s normal given the many reporting lines they have. Treasury, accounting, FP&A, internal audit… they are all part of the CFO office. So we tax people compete with a lot of colleagues for getting the attention of the CFO. And that can be frustrating…

Frequently I hear that tax leaders don’t have a weekly touchpoint with their manager. I find that worrying. Even when the CFO travels, a short catch-up should be a weekly routine. Tax is too important. Compliance is a company-wide responsibility. Every business decision has a tax shadow. The risks are too high and range from financial to reputational to criminal.

Here are 5 things to guarantee your (virtual) weekly coffee with the CFO, and get the most out of it:

1️⃣ Be prepared. Ideally, you have a fixed agenda for your weekly touchpoint. Compliance updates. Key risks and opportunities. Project updates. Strategic initiatives. Reporting on North Star metrics. Etc etc;

2️⃣ Speak the language of the CFO. No tax jargon. Be direct. Short and condensed;

3️⃣ Focus on the most important metrics. A CFO will not be interested in hearing about a valuation allowance, or the Berry Ratio. Talk about cash, ETR, risks, RoI, Total Tax Contribution…

4️⃣ Highlight the impact for the business. Tax is not an island. We are here to support the company. We are here to let the business thrive. We are here to enable top-line growth. That’s right, value protection AND creation;

5️⃣ Make it visual. Graphs, tables, eye candy. The CFO constantly gets questions from your competing colleagues. The human attention span is limited. Visuals help to convey your message.

By the way, we've got a very practical guide for CFO's about tax, DM me if you want a PDF copy.