If you’re stepping in as a full-time or virtual CFO, you’re likely joining a business that needs clearer cash flow visibility, stronger forecasting or better control over budgets and performance. Your impact starts with how well you navigate the first three months.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through a 90-day action plan that sets the tone for long-term success. It will help you understand the business, uncover areas that need attention and align teams around the financial priorities that support sustainable growth.
Days 1–30: Understand, assess and build relationships
Your first month as CFO is all about settling in and building a strong foundation. Use this period to understand how the business works, review its financial position and spot areas that may be slowing growth.
Jack McCullough, founder and president of the CFO Leadership Council and author of Secrets of Rock Star CFOs shares a useful reminder:
“I encourage CFOs, at the start to necessarily try not to accomplish that much but to learn, ask questions, get to know the finance accounting team, meet cross-functional teams like the sales, engineering, and customer support teams and build alliances with board members to understand the business as best you can. In the long run, you’ll be extremely well served for having gone through that educational process in your initial days.”
Get the financials in order
Make sure you have access to all key financial documents. This will help you quickly understand the company’s current position and identify what needs immediate attention.
You should review:
- Recent balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements
- Budgets, forecasts and performance reports from the past year
- Details of current loans, bank accounts and any outstanding liabilities
- Information on known financial challenges or risks
For starters, look for any revenue leakages or cash flow discrepancies and confirm that all tax and compliance requirements are being met. If financial data is incomplete or scattered, take this time to organise and standardise it.
Meet, greet and learn
Make it a priority to meet with key members of the finance team early on. These conversations will help you understand day-to-day operations, current challenges and how financial data is used across the business.
Make sure you take the opportunity to:
- Meet the CEO, department heads, existing finance staff and any outsourced accountants
- Engage with stakeholders such as investors, board members or major clients to understand their expectations
- Understand the company culture by observing how teams communicate, make decisions and measure success
- Attend team meetings, company-wide sessions and informal gatherings
- Review past performance data and hold listening sessions with senior staff to learn about the company’s history and working style
As you speak with different teams and leaders, you’ll gain valuable context on various business functions such as which customer segments are churning or the ROI of different marketing campaigns. This insight will help you plan the company’s financials more effectively.
Day 31-60: Review, refine and optimise performance
By the second month, you should begin shifting from observation to action. This is when collaboration with leadership and teams becomes most important.
Assess current financial strategies
Take a close look at the company’s existing financial approach. Gather the necessary details to analyse the capital structure, investment plans, and risk management practices. This will help you determine whether these align with business objectives and identify areas for optimisation.
At this stage, conduct a full risk assessment. Consider factors such as market volatility, regulatory changes, and competition. Identify opportunities to increase revenue and reduce costs.
Review of systems and processes
Assess how well the current financial systems and workflows support the business. This includes accounting tools, the month-end close process, budgeting methods and payroll software systems.
If you identify areas for improvement, implement changes where appropriate. This might include updating financial policies or adopting accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks. These updates will strengthen the financial infrastructure and ensure reliable data for informed decision-making.
Assess the finance team’s capabilities
At this stage, review how the finance team is structured and whether it has the right mix of skills and capacity. This will help you identify training needs, gaps in expertise or areas where new hires or outsourcing providers could strengthen performance.
Focus on:
- Current skill levels and job responsibilities
- Team size in relation to business needs
- Gaps for training or additional support
Based on the findings, recommend new hires or role changes. Investing in the right talent now will help prevent reporting delays later.
Clear out the chaos
Make some effective progress by addressing the issues you’ve identified early on. Encourage the team to:
- Clean up the general ledger
- Improve cash flow reporting
- Streamline invoice and billing cycles
These quick wins will help you build momentum and earn trust in your financial leadership. If there isn’t a dedicated team to handle these tasks, consider outsourcing the finance function to manage the technical clean-up and provide ongoing accounting support.
Day 61-90: Strategise, align and drive performance
By this stage, you should have a solid understanding of the business and its financial position. Now is the time to start shaping strategies that drive growth and long-term success.
Develop a strategic financial plan
Initiate discussions around the company’s future direction. Be prepared to review priorities and make decisions on areas such as:
- Revenue growth and pricing strategies
- Cost control measures and margin improvements
- Fundraising, M&A or exit planning (if relevant)
Clear communication and collaboration at this stage will help define measurable objectives and guide the company’s next phase of growth.
Set measurable KPIs and refine reporting
Once priorities are aligned, start setting clear KPIs and refining the company’s reporting structure. By this stage, you should receive regular reports that track:
- Profitability and gross margin
- Cash flow and runway
- Budget versus actual performance
- Customer acquisition costs and return on investment (if applicable)
As CFO, review existing reporting processes and look for ways to improve access to financial data, capital market trends and industry-specific metrics. For subscription-based businesses, ensure a single source of truth for metrics such as customer lifetime value, churn and average revenue per customer. Use these metrics to experiment with pricing, conduct financial analysis and forecast revenue accurately.
Engage in cross-functional collaboration
Work closely with other department heads to understand challenges and resource needs. According to RGP’s CFO Perspectives survey, 74% of CFOs now yield enterprise-wide influence and 93% play a key role in shaping business strategy.
Collaborate by:
- Create a cohesive growth plan integrating finance and other departments’ perspectives.
- Backing initiatives that improve financial awareness across departments
- Building trust across teams through open communication and shared accountability
This approach ensures financial planning is fully integrated into the business strategy, enabling effective resource allocation and stronger overall team performance.
Communicate effectively with stakeholders
By this stage, you should be ready to present key financial insights to stakeholders including investors, board members and employees. Understand the level of detail each audience expects and the concerns that matter most.
Collect insights from previous board discussions and investor expectations to ensure your communication is aligned and effective. This preparation will help build trust and position the business as financially credible and well-managed.
Review progress and plan ahead
Once the foundation is in place, review progress and maintain forward momentum. Focus on key areas such as:
- Progress made so far and areas that still require improvement
- Emerging risks or operational hurdles that need attention
- Updated budgets and forecasts for the coming 6 to 12 months
- Additional resources needed to sustain growth
Maintain open communication with leadership to stay aligned on priorities and ensure the reasoning behind any adjustments is clear. Regular check-ins and transparent discussions will help keep initiatives on track and continue driving business growth.
By following this 90-day plan, you will have the foundation needed to strengthen financial performance and lead the business with confidence. To ensure finance systems and reporting fully support your success, consider partnering with professionals.
At Rise Accounting, our outsourced finance function is designed to support businesses and finance leaders. We act as an extension of your internal team, delivering in-house quality accounting, FinOps, vendor and payroll payments and reporting tailored to the company’s growth stage.
Contact our team here to learn how we can support you.
