Historically, most finance chiefs started out as accountants. But, as its remit expands beyond traditional bookkeeping, the CFO position is attracting individuals from a variety of backgrounds, with non-traditional skills and experiences.
Analysis by Leathwaite, an executive-search firm, reveals an openness among UK businesses to hiring a finance leader from a non-traditional background. Of the 31 newly appointed CFOs at FTSE 100 companies in 2023, 13 (42%) had no accountancy qualification. The share of US CFOs with an accountancy background is also decreasing. In 2012, 55% of S&P 2000 CFOs were licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPA), but by 2022 that number had dropped to 43%, according to data by recruitment agency Russel Reynolds.
This trend is fuelling a debate about the skills required to be a successful finance chief. Some argue that an accountancy degree is no longer necessary given that CFOs are focusing less on day-to-day accounting procedures and more on broader strategic initiatives.
However, others argue an accounting background is more important than ever before. Increased regulatory burdens and stories of high-profile corporate failures, involving accounting errors and flawed earnings reports, are raising the pressure on companies and boards to ensure their finance chief is technically competent and has a firm grasp of the balance sheet.
Here, two finance professionals debate whether CFOs need accountancy qualifications.
An accountancy qualification is no longer an essential
The expanding mandate of the CFO means that being a qualified accountant is no longer an essential requirement for the job. Businesses today are facing a volatile landscape, which demands a different mindset among CFOs. For finance leaders, the challenges range from properly capitalising the business to keeping investors happy. Now more than ever, companies want CFOs who can communicate, collaborate with others, see the bigger picture and think strategically about the direction of the company.
This is why there’s been a rise in CFOs with financial services experience, for instance, specifically at investment banks. These individuals can drive more strategic initiatives, such as M&A growth.
I have no formal accountancy qualification but I have previous experience in the consultancy sector. My knowledge about capital markets and equity and debt financing, and my experience externally communicating with the market, was seen as more valuable than an accountancy certification for this business.
In my experience, the CFO does not need to be the best accountant – and, in fact, that should not be their main skill. Their role is more about strategy and problem-solving; it’s about helping the business make better decisions and then making sure those decisions become reality. Senior accounting and controller positions, meanwhile, are typically occupied by accountants. This is why my first step as CFO was to hire a controller with an accountancy background. As a leader, you build your team around your strengths and your weaknesses.
Going forward, I expect to see a rise in the number of people following non-conventional routes to the CFO post. These include taking on commercial and operational roles, which can help to round out a candidate’s skills and fill important gaps. This will prepare future finance leaders for the ever-expanding mandate of the CFO.
A formal accountancy qualification is no longer a prerequisite for becoming a CFO. It could even be a hindrance if someone’s capabilities are too narrowly focused on that aspect of finance. Companies are increasingly willing to accept this view of the CFO. In some cases, they’re are actively looking for a different profile.
Qualified accountants make the best CFOs
In my experience, the vast majority of top CFOs start their career with a few years in public accounting before moving into broader finance roles. They may have decades of broader finance experience, but it is built on top of an early foundation in accounting. It’s not the only path, but it builds the most successful CFOs.
There is a good reason that accounting experience is so critical: the most important aspect of a CFO’s job is their legal fiduciary responsibility. It is their duty to guarantee that any financial information the organisation uses when dealing with various stakeholders, analysts and governmental reporting agencies, is accurate. Furthermore, when investors write a check to a business, they want to know the person they are handing it to has the skills required to protect their capital.
At the end of the day, losing control of the balance sheet is the most common reason CFOs lose their jobs. Such errors can put the rest of the business at serious risk. An accountancy qualification is therefore the easiest way for boards and recruiters to ensure that a CFO has a basic level of financial competence.
Several high-profile accounting scandals and failures over the past 12 months have prompted boards and companies to place greater value on technically competent, accounting-literate professionals when searching for a new CFO. Similarly, with regulatory changes becoming more frequent and the cost of non-compliance rising, a CFO with that technical, accounting rigour will be viewed far more favourably. I do not see this changing any time soon.

Historically, most finance chiefs started out as accountants. But, as its remit expands beyond traditional bookkeeping, the CFO position is attracting individuals from a variety of backgrounds, with non-traditional skills and experiences.
Analysis by Leathwaite, an executive-search firm, reveals an openness among UK businesses to hiring a finance leader from a non-traditional background. Of the 31 newly appointed CFOs at FTSE 100 companies in 2023, 13 (42%) had no accountancy qualification. The share of US CFOs with an accountancy background is also decreasing. In 2012, 55% of S&P 2000 CFOs were licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPA), but by 2022 that number had dropped to 43%, according to data by recruitment agency Russel Reynolds.
This trend is fuelling a debate about the skills required to be a successful finance chief. Some argue that an accountancy degree is no longer necessary given that CFOs are focusing less on day-to-day accounting procedures and more on broader strategic initiatives.