Develop Plans, Update Practices, Foster Innovation: Why Your CFO or Controller Should Be Driving More Than Just the Numbers

When most people think of a CFO or controller, they picture someone buried in spreadsheets, laser-focused on budgets, forecasts, and financial compliance.

While that’s not entirely wrong, it’s also a massive underuse of some of the most strategic minds in your organization.

The role of the finance leader has evolved. Today’s CFOs and controllers are not just financial gatekeepers. They are growth architects who help organizations think long-term, stay agile in changing markets, and bring data-driven insight to every major decision.

If your organization is only leveraging them for month-end closes and audit prep, you’re missing a critical opportunity.

Let’s break down how a modern CFO or controller can help you develop smarter plans, update outdated practices, and foster a culture of innovation.

1. Strategic Planning with Financial Foresight

Business planning without financial insight is like trying to navigate a forest without a compass. Sure, you might find your way out, but chances are you’ll get lost a few times and step on a snake or two.

A CFO brings the numbers into the planning process, not just historical data, but predictive analytics that offer a forward-looking view. According to a recent PwC survey, 79% of CFOs say their role now includes identifying and driving new growth opportunities. They are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between strategy and execution by ensuring that every big idea is financially viable and sustainable.

Your CFO or controller can help align budgets with strategic goals, evaluate ROI on key initiatives, identify hidden risks before they become real threats, and model different growth scenarios for smarter decision-making. In short, they help ensure that plans aren’t just ambitious. They’re realistic.

2. Updating Business Practices for Agility and Efficiency

Let’s face it, business moves fast. And if your internal practices still look like a scene from a 2003 operations manual, it’s time for a tune-up.

One of the often-overlooked skills of a great CFO or controller is operational efficiency. They know where the bottlenecks are. They can spot wasteful spending faster than you can say “cost center.” More importantly, they can help you modernize systems and processes to keep pace with change.

According to McKinsey, organizations that closely integrate finance with operations see up to a 20% improvement in productivity and decision-making speed. That’s a serious competitive advantage.

Your CFO can help drive modernization efforts such as implementing or optimizing ERP systems, streamlining reporting and compliance processes, updating internal controls to reduce risk, and automating routine tasks so your team can focus on high-value work.

Modern finance leaders are part financial strategist and part process engineer. When you put both skill sets to work, the results speak for themselves.

3. Driving Innovation with Data-Backed Decisions

Here’s something most companies get wrong. They treat innovation as a separate function, disconnected from finance. But innovation without financial discipline is a fast track to blowing your budget on half-baked ideas.

Great CFOs and controllers act as innovation enablers. They help create frameworks that allow for experimentation without compromising financial health. According to Deloitte’s 2023 CFO Signals survey, 57% of CFOs are actively involved in digital transformation initiatives, not just approving budgets but shaping the strategies themselves.

Finance leaders support innovation by identifying funding sources for R&D or new initiatives, establishing innovation metrics tied to business impact, creating financial guardrails for experimentation, and monitoring results with the flexibility to adjust course based on real-time data.

When finance and innovation work together, you don’t just get good ideas. You get good ideas that actually work.

Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Reimagine the Role of Finance

If your CFO or controller isn’t sitting at the strategy table, you’re not just underutilizing talent. You’re undercutting your business potential.

At Procuris Consulting, we specialize in helping organizations unlock the full value of their finance function. Whether you need fractional CFO support, controller services, or strategic financial guidance, we help turn finance into a growth engine.

Because at the end of the day, good ideas are great. But good ideas backed by sound financial strategy? That’s how you scale.

Ready to level up your planning, operations, and innovation efforts?

Contact Procuris Consulting to learn how our fractional CFO and controller services can help your business move forward with clarity and confidence.