First phase for a CFO: learn before you change
A finance leader arrives to a business where the numbers are trusted by some people and doubted by others. The first phase is about finding out which. Read the cash position, the way the forecast is built and how the monthly close actually works, not how the policy says it works. Meet the lenders, auditors and finance team separately, because each tells a different story about what the function owes them.
Resist the urge to fix things in the first phase. A new CFO who rebuilds the chart of accounts before understanding the business creates a second problem. The useful output is a short list of what is reliable, what is not and what must change first.
Ask for the last few monthly packs and read them as a lender would. Look for numbers that change between versions, balances nobody can explain and footnotes that carry too much weight. Those are the places where trust has already slipped, and they tell you where the first honest conversation with the owner needs to happen.
Second phase for a CFO: repairs people can see
The second phase is about repair that people can see. Close the biggest reporting gaps, put a rolling cash view in front of the owner and agree who owns each budget line. This is where the tradeoff appears: speed of reporting against its accuracy. A quick report that nobody believes is worse than a slower one the lender accepts.
Budget ownership needs care. Department heads often treat the budget as finance's document. A good interim CFO hands each head a number they helped set and a monthly conversation about it. That conversation is more valuable than any template.
Cash deserves a weekly rhythm during this phase, even if the business does not feel in trouble. A simple view of what is coming in, what is going out and what is committed teaches the owner to look forward. Keep it plain enough that someone outside finance can read it in a minute.
Third phase for a CFO: make it hold
By the third phase, the work shifts to durability. Controls, a reporting calendar and an honest list of open risks go to the board or owner. The question to ask is whether the function would keep working if this person left tomorrow. If the answer is no, the handover is not finished.
Think about who inherits the forecast. If the model only works in the interim's spreadsheet, it leaves with them. Build it with the team, in the tools they already use, and have a team member present it at least once before the engagement ends. Ownership transfers through use, not through documentation alone.
How your situation changes the CFO plan
Tie the plan to your situation. In a turnaround, cash comes before everything. In a transaction, data room quality drives priorities. In a system rollout, the CFO sits between the project team and the users and has to stop finance from becoming an afterthought.
In a vacancy, add one task: find the commitments the previous CFO made informally to banks, advisers or suppliers. In a transaction, add a data request list and a single owner for answers. In a system rollout, add a chart of accounts decision early, since changing it late is expensive and painful.
Mistakes in the CFO brief
The usual brief mistakes for this seat are asking for a technical accountant when the real need is a communicator, and forgetting to say whether the CFO will meet lenders. Name who the person will face outside the company and whether the existing team can carry the reporting.
Do not forget the budget for the finance function itself. If the brief expects better reporting but offers no room for tools or extra help, the CFO will spend the engagement stretched. Say what support exists, and be open if the answer is very little.
Questions to settle before you brief a CFO
Before you brief, decide who the CFO will present to and how often. A board that wants monthly depth needs a different person from an owner who wants a short call each week. Also decide whether the role includes treasury, tax and insurance or only reporting and planning. Gaps in that list turn into surprises in the first month, and candidates usually ask about each item.
Decide too whether you want a builder or a steward. A builder redesigns processes and tools. A steward keeps a sound function running while you recruit. Both are valuable and rarely the same person. Naming which one you need makes the candidate list shorter and much better.
Finally, say what you will do if the numbers turn out worse than you believe. Owners often brief a CFO on the assumption that the books are roughly right. If the first review shows otherwise, the engagement changes shape, and the owner needs to be ready for a frank report rather than a defensive reaction. Agreeing this in advance protects the relationship, and it protects the person you hire from carrying blame for what they only discovered.