CPA by Choice: Top 5 Strategic Moves Every CFO Should Make in the First 90 Days
- Mar 5
- 4 min read
For any organization, the first 90 days of a new Chief Financial Officer’s tenure can set the tone for years to come. A strong CFO does far more than manage the books, they establish financial clarity, align leadership with data-driven decisions, and build systems that support sustainable growth.
At CPA by Choice, we’ve worked with small business owners since 2002 and have seen firsthand how early financial strategy can make or break a company’s trajectory. Whether you're a startup founder hiring your first CFO or a growing company strengthening your financial leadership, here are the five strategic moves every CFO should prioritize in their first 90 days.
1. Establish a Cash Flow Strategy
Cash flow is the lifeblood of every business. Even profitable companies can fail if they don’t have a clear understanding of when cash comes in and when it goes out. One of the first responsibilities of a CFO is to bring immediate clarity to the organization’s cash position.
A powerful starting point is building a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast. This weekly view allows leadership to anticipate cash shortages, manage expenses, and plan investments with confidence.
Tip: Build a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast to create immediate visibility and trust.
Why this matters:
It provides a real-time financial pulse of the company.
Leadership can spot liquidity risks early and act proactively.
It strengthens confidence with banks, investors, and stakeholders.
It allows the CFO to guide strategic spending rather than reactive cuts.
For small businesses especially, having this level of transparency can transform decision-making. Instead of wondering whether there’s enough money for payroll, hiring, or expansion, leadership has a reliable roadmap.
2. Make Strategic Growth Investment Decisions
Many companies grow quickly, but not always profitably. A CFO’s role is to ensure that growth is both intentional and financially sound.
During the first 90 days, a CFO should analyze the company’s unit economics: the profitability of each product, service, or customer. This includes understanding:
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Customer lifetime value (LTV)
Contribution margins
Profitability by product or service line
Tip: Use unit economics and contribution margins to guide hiring, pricing, and expansion.
This analysis helps answer key questions such as:
Are we pricing our services correctly?
Which customers or services generate the most profit?
Are we scaling areas that actually produce margin?
Can we afford to hire or expand into new markets?
For example, a business might see strong revenue growth but discover through unit economics that certain offerings are barely profitable, or even losing money. By identifying this early, the CFO can adjust pricing, optimize operations, or redirect resources toward higher-performing opportunities.
The result is smarter, more sustainable growth rather than growth that strains resources.
3. Strengthen Financial Infrastructure
Many small and mid-sized businesses operate with financial systems that worked when they were smaller but struggle to keep up as the company grows. Disconnected spreadsheets, inconsistent reports, and delayed financials can lead to poor decisions.
A CFO’s early focus should be on building a strong financial infrastructure.
Tip: Fix reporting, KPIs, and systems early. Clean data drives better decisions.
This often includes:
Standardizing monthly financial reporting
Establishing clear key performance indicators (KPIs)
Implementing or improving accounting software
Creating dashboards for leadership visibility
Ensuring data accuracy and consistency
When the financial infrastructure is solid, leadership can quickly answer important questions like:
What is our real profitability?
Which departments are driving results?
Are we hitting our targets?
Where should we invest next?
Without clean data, leaders operate on assumptions. With strong financial systems, they operate on facts and strategy.
4. Align Financial Strategy with Business Goals
A CFO should not operate in isolation. One of the most impactful things a new CFO can do is ensure that the company’s financial strategy aligns with its broader vision and operational goals.
During the first 90 days, the CFO should meet with key leaders across the organization to understand:
Growth targets
Operational challenges
Sales strategies
Hiring plans
Long-term objectives
From there, the CFO can translate these goals into financial models and realistic projections.
This alignment ensures that:
Budgets reflect real priorities
Teams understand the financial impact of their decisions
Leadership stays accountable to measurable outcomes
When financial strategy supports business strategy, the company moves forward with clarity and cohesion.
5. Build Trust with Leadership and Stakeholders
The final strategic move is often the most overlooked: building trust.
In the early months, a CFO has a unique opportunity to establish credibility with executives, investors, lenders, and department leaders. This happens through transparency, communication, and delivering reliable financial insights.
A CFO who clearly explains financial performance and provides actionable recommendations becomes an invaluable advisor, not just a number cruncher.
Ways to build this trust include:
Delivering consistent, understandable financial reports
Communicating risks and opportunities proactively
Partnering with department leaders on financial planning
Providing strategic insights rather than just historical data
When leadership trusts the CFO’s perspective, financial strategy becomes a guiding force for the entire organization.
The Bottom Line
The first 90 days are critical for any CFO. By focusing on cash flow visibility, smart growth decisions, strong financial infrastructure, strategic alignment, and trusted leadership, a CFO can quickly create stability and momentum.
At CPA by Choice, we help small businesses and growing companies build the financial systems and strategies they need to succeed. With decades of experience supporting both corporate and personal accounting needs, our goal is to help you leave your accounting and financial worries behind and focus on what matters most: growing your business and your life.
If your business is ready for stronger financial insight and guidance, CPA by Choice is ready to earn our spot as your trusted advisor.
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