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Apparently, CFOs are not immune to the trends that are causing record CEO turnover. Russell Reynolds reports that CFO tenure reached a 5-year low of 5.6 years in 2024. KPMG’s April 2025 Directors Quarterly discusses the need for robust CFO succession planning to avoid disruption from unexpected turnover. Key to effective succession planning is ensuring that the process evolves to reflect the skills and experiences that CFOs need in today’s business environment. And the role is expanding. The article points to the fact that CFOs now:

– Take on more responsibility as strategic leaders

– Lead (versus support) technology & innovation projects

– Have responsibility for cybersecurity, AI, digital transformations and sustainability

Accordingly, it says, CFOs often come to the role without traditional accounting and financial reporting backgrounds. That means talent management is also an increasingly important skill for CFOs since having a strong controller and accounting team is as important as ever. Given the increased dependence on CFO reports, KPMG suggests that effective CFO succession planning should also address those roles.

The article also discusses signs of a healthy (or not so healthy) relationship between the CFO and the audit committee. The KPMG team spoke to audit committee members & CFOs who cited these potential red flags that the relationship between the CFO and the audit committee isn’t what it should be:

– An audit committee member asks a question and the controller or CAE hesitates before answering

– The audit committee chair learns bad news from someone other than the CFO

Audit committees need to be vigilant. Lack of accounting resources/expertise was still one of the top 5 reasons for material weaknesses in internal controls in 2024, and the talent shortage in accounting isn’t going away anytime soon.

– Meredith Ervine