How to Build a Finance Team That Drives Business Growth
From bean counters to business partners: The CFO’s blueprint for building a strategic finance team
As a CFO, you’re expected to do more than report the numbers — you’re expected to drive growth, guide strategy, and shape the future.
But here’s the truth:
You can’t do it alone.
To truly operate as a strategic partner to the business, you need a finance team that’s more than operationally competent.
You need a team that thinks like you do — sharp, curious, commercial.
And that means building a finance function that can move beyond compliance and become a catalyst for performance and innovation.
So how do you do it?
1. Rethink the Org Chart: Structure for Strategy, Not Just Reporting Lines
Too many finance teams are structured around functions: AP, AR, reporting, payroll. That’s fine for transactional work — but not for strategic impact.
👉 Instead, structure your team around business value streams:
Commercial finance
FP&A & scenario modeling
Strategic projects & M&A
Data & analytics
Business partnering by BU or region
Jasper, one of my clients, restructured his team to align analysts with product leads.
“Suddenly the analysts weren’t chasing reports — they were sitting in on product roadmap meetings and adding insight right there in the room.”
2. Hire for Curiosity and Courage — Not Just Credentials
Technical skills are table stakes. But if your team can’t challenge assumptions, ask better questions, or communicate clearly… they won’t drive growth.
Look for people who:
Ask “why” (not just “how”)
Have commercial instinct
Can communicate data in plain language
Aren’t afraid to push back with insight
Anna, a CFO client of mine, said:
“The best hire I ever made wasn’t the one with the best Excel skills. It was the one who could sit with the sales director and ask the questions no one else dared.”
Anna, CFO
“The best hire I ever made wasn’t the one with the best Excel skills. It was the one who could sit with the sales director and ask the questions no one else dared.”
3. Invest in Upskilling — Finance Can’t Be Static
Finance is evolving fast. AI, automation, data tools, ESG reporting — the ground is shifting under your team’s feet.
If you don’t actively build future-fit skills, you risk becoming irrelevant.
Focus on building capabilities in:
Financial storytelling & presentation
Data visualization (Power BI, Tableau)
Strategic decision-making under uncertainty
Business partnering & cross-functional collaboration
Marta, Group Controller turned CFO, shared:
“When we trained our finance analysts on stakeholder communication, it was a game-changer. They stopped emailing spreadsheets and started telling stories with numbers.”
4. Create a Culture of Ownership and Learning
A growth-focused finance team doesn’t wait to be asked. They lean in, take initiative, and constantly seek to improve.
✨ Encourage:
Ownership of business results, not just tasks
Safe spaces to make (and learn from) mistakes
Continuous learning as a team norm
Cross-functional exposure and job shadowing
Emre, a finance director I coach, said:
“We started hosting monthly 'Finance x Ops' coffee chats. Now our team doesn’t just understand the numbers — they understand the story behind them.”
5. Be the Leader Who Models Strategic Finance
Your team will follow your lead. If you’re stuck in reporting mode, so will they. If you lead with insight, questions, and cross-functional thinking — they’ll rise to match you.
Model:
Strategic curiosity over reporting perfection
Partnership over passivity
Clarity over jargon
When you lead like a strategic CFO, your team starts showing up like one too.
Final Word: You’re Not Building a Finance Team — You’re Building a Growth Engine
A strategic finance team:
Speaks the language of the business
Challenges assumptions
Drives decisions with data
Creates leverage — not just control
And that starts with you.
If you want help evaluating or reshaping your current team for impact, that’s exactly what we do inside The CFO Journey.
👉 Want to build a finance team that fuels growth — not just reports on it?
Let’s talk strategy, structure, and skill.
