The gap nobody funds
There is so much learning and development content out there for CFOs, but very little for everyone at the levels below that.[1] That is the honest state of the market. Once you are in the seat, the executive programs, the peer roundtables and the vendor-sponsored content all find you. Before that, when it would actually change your trajectory, you are largely on your own.
It is the reason I started The CFO Track. The whole idea behind the pod is to give up and coming finance leaders the learnings and development that they might not have had the opportunity to otherwise.[2] Free, unpaywalled, and aimed squarely at the people three to eight years out from the seat.
The formats, weighed honestly
Every format on this list has a genuine use. What kills people is picking the expensive one to solve a problem that a conversation would have fixed.
| Format | When it earns its cost | |
|---|---|---|
| University executive programs | Weeks to months, high cost | Worth it when you need the credential or the cohort, typically for a pivot into general management or a listed-company track. Rarely the thing that wins a startup CFO shortlist. |
| Board-readiness courses | Short, structured | Useful if you have never sat in a board meeting and want the vocabulary. No substitute for actually presenting your own section of the pack. |
| Executive coaching | Ongoing, one to one | Best for a specific behavioural problem: how you handle conflict with a CEO, how you present under pressure. Expensive as general development. |
| Mentoring | Usually free | The highest return per hour, especially in a role you have never done before. Someone senior in your corner who will tell you the truth. |
| Peer communities and podcasts | Free, self-directed | For exposure to how other people solved the problem in front of you. Fills the gap that formal programs leave for pre-CFO levels. |
| On-the-job exposure | Free, and hardest to get | Owning a raise, a system implementation, a first hire. The only format that changes what a shortlist thinks of you. |
Mentoring does the heavy lifting
Of everything on that list, mentoring is the one I see change outcomes most reliably. One finance leader put it plainly: when you are starting a role you have never done before and feel you lack the skills, having a mentor who can be a raving fan on the sideline is critical for boosting confidence and combating self-doubt throughout your career.[3] That is not a soft benefit. Self-doubt is what stops people applying for the seat they are ready for.
Peer communities do similar work for a different problem. Most senior finance leaders carry a version of self-doubt internally, but few express it aloud.[4] A room of people at the same altitude is often the only place that conversation happens.
The CFO Track podcast is where I put this into practice, with Australian finance leaders talking honestly about how they got there here.
The curriculum nobody teaches
If you are choosing what to develop, choose against where the market actually screens. The most important skill for finance professionals is the ability to communicate and business partner, working with the wider business so people act on the real meaning of the numbers.[5] Technical skill gets you in the door for a senior finance role. Stakeholder skill is what keeps you in it.[6]
Storytelling is the concrete version of that. At final-stage interviews, candidates who can deliver the story through a case study presentation or a real discussion about board packs make a significant difference.[7] If you want one thing to practise this quarter, practise presenting a board pack to someone who is allowed to interrupt you.
The other live curriculum item is AI, and it needs a governance frame rather than a tools frame. My one rule is that AI produces a first draft, not a final answer. A qualified person checks every number and signs off anything that reaches a board, investor, auditor, client or regulator, so accountability stays human.[8] Finance people are not afraid of being replaced. They are afraid of signing off something that is wrong.[9]
For the full list of what founders and boards actually screen for, see the CFO skills and qualifications breakdown here.
What to do about it if you lead a team
For CFOs and Heads of Finance reading this from the other side: the development gap under you is a retention problem before it is a capability problem. A lack of career progression for capable finance professionals is most of the time not due to their capability.[10] Hard work is visible in a finance career, but ambition often is not, so the proactive conversation has to come from somewhere.[11] If you are not having it, someone else eventually will.
Common questions
What training does a CFO actually need?
Less formal training than most people assume, and more exposure. The technical base is usually already there by the time someone is a candidate. What gets tested is judgement, communication and the ability to hold a room, and those develop through owning a capital raise, presenting your own section of a board pack, hiring and managing people, and having a mentor who will tell you the truth. Executive programs help most when you need a credential or a cohort, not as a substitute for that exposure.
Is an executive education program worth the cost for an aspiring CFO?
It depends what you are buying. If you need the credential for a listed-company track, or the cohort and network for a pivot into general management, a university executive program can be worth it. For a first CFO seat at an Australian startup, I have not seen a program decide a shortlist. Founders screen for whether you have raised capital, led a team and sat in a board meeting. Spend the money on getting closer to those things if you can.
Where can aspiring CFOs get development if their employer will not fund it?
This is the real gap. There is a large amount of learning and development content aimed at sitting CFOs and very little for the levels below. Free routes that work are mentoring, peer communities, and long-form content where practitioners explain how they actually solved a problem. The CFO Track podcast exists for exactly this reason: to give up-and-coming finance leaders the learning and development they might not otherwise have access to.
How should finance leaders develop their teams on AI?
Frame it as governance rather than tooling. The rule worth teaching is that AI produces a first draft, not a final answer, and a qualified person must check every number and sign off anything that reaches a board, investor, auditor, client or regulator. Finance professionals are not afraid of being replaced by AI. They are afraid of signing off on something that is wrong, so the training that lands is about where the human check sits, not which tool to buy.
References
- Tom Hunter identifying the development gap: there is so much learning and development content out there for CFOs, but very little for everyone at the levels below that.
- Tom Hunter on why he launched The CFO Track: the whole idea behind the pod is to give up and coming finance leaders the learnings and development that they might not have had the opportunity to otherwise.
- A CFO Track guest on mentoring: when starting a role you have never done before and feel you lack the skills, having a mentor who can be a raving fan on the sideline is critical for boosting confidence and combating self-doubt.
- Tom Hunter's observation that most senior finance leaders carry a version of self-doubt internally, but few express it aloud.
- Tom Hunter on the most important skill for finance professionals: the ability to communicate and business partner so the broader business acts on the real meaning of the numbers.
- Tom Hunter on senior finance hiring: technical skill gets candidates in the door, but stakeholder skill keeps you in the role by enabling trust and rapport.
- Tom Hunter on final-stage interviews: candidates who can deliver the story through case study presentations or discussions about board packs make a significant difference.
- Tom Hunter's one rule for AI in finance: it produces a first draft, not a final answer. A qualified person must check every number and sign off anything reaching a board, investor, auditor, client or regulator, so accountability remains human.
- Tom Hunter on the real fear about AI in finance: professionals are not afraid of being replaced, they are afraid of signing off on something that is wrong.
- Tom Hunter on stalled progression: a lack of career progression for capable finance professionals is most of the time not due to their capability.
- Tom Hunter on ambition: hard work is visible in a finance career but ambition often is not, and proactive conversations are key to advancement.