THE CFO'S
OFFICE 2.0
Introduction and
methodology
The number of US chief financial officer job postings demanding
“understanding or knowledge of artificial intelligence” has risen
by 15% during the first quarter of 2024. This is just one of the
findings of this study which looks at the impact of AI, remote
working, technology, technical skills, and soft skills in the CFO's
Office based on 2000 open job vacancies. In this report Datarails,
the AI-powered Financial Planning and Analysis platform for Excel
users, analyzed 1000 US job roles in the CFO’s office in January
2024. This was then compared to a further 1000 job posts in April
2024 for key CFO, FP&A, Controller, and Senior Accountant open
positions at more than 2000 US companies seeking to fill finance
positions at companies including HSB, Prudential, Royal Caribbean
Group and Honeywell period. Job vacancy data was collected from
major job portals including Glassdoor, Indeed, Job2Careers, and
ZipRecruiter for US CFO positions.
02
1. Technical Skills
“Planning”, “Report Writing” and
“Analytical Mindset” – Most In-
Demand CFO Technical Skills
Technical skills are the specialized knowledge and expertise
required to perform specific tasks and use specific tools and
programs in real world situations. For the Chief Financial Officer,
the fastest rising technical skills which are in demand are
“planning” (a jump by 31%, January to April 2024) relating to
tracking past performance and making better-informed forecasts
for the future. In addition, “report writing” rose by 23% in CFO job
descriptions, the need for an “analytical mindset” rose by 18%,
and “customer service” skills rose by 11% reflecting the need for the
CFO to be a business partner and leader for the rest of the
business and to understand their business’s customers.
The fastest-rising skill required for accountants is “analytical” skills
(10% rise), while for FP&A it is modeling skills (14%) and for
controllers is “budgeting” (23%).
03
Evolution of technical
skills in the CFO’s Office
Changes: January to April 2024
Accountant Controller FP&A CFO
30.8%
23.1% 23.0%
18.0%
14.4% 14.4% 13.9%
9.8% 10.6%
3.7% 4.0% 4.1% 5.0%
1.9% 2.0% 0.9%
0.3% 0.0% 0.0%
-0.1% -0.4% -0.1% -1.0% -0.7%
-1.6%
-2.7%
-4.8%
-7.2%
-14.3%
-15.7%
-23.9% -23.8%
Analytical Management Accounting
skills skills skills
skills skills
04
Source: 1000 Finance Job posts - Glassdor, Indeed, Job2Careers, Ziprecruiter
CFO
(Technical Skills, April 2024)
Customer
service skills
Budgeting
Analytical
skills
skills
Report writing
skills
CFO
Management
skills
Planning
skills Modeling
skills
Accounting
skills
FP&A
(Technical Skills, April 2024)
Customer service
skills
Budgeting
skills Analytical
skills
Report writing
skills
FP&A
Management
skills
Planning
skills
Modeling
Accounting skills
skills
05
Controller
(Technical Skills, April 2024)
Customer
Budgeting service skills
skills Analytical
skills
Report writing
skills
Controller
Management
Planning skills
skills
Modeling
skills
Accounting
skills
Accountant
(Technical Skills, April 2024)
Customer
service skills
Budgeting
skills Analytical
skills
Report writing
skills
Accountant
Management
skills
Planning
skills
Modeling
skills
Accounting
skills
06
2. Soft Skills “Attention to Detail”,
“Initiative” and “Leadership” lead CFO
requirements
Soft skills involves interpersonal (people) communication, and
listening skill, as well as time management, and problem-solving. In an
age of automation, need for soft skills have increased by 5% across the
CFO’s Office.
Specifically for today’s Chief Financial Officer, the fastest rising soft skill
is “attention to detail” (a rise across CFO job posts by 19%). With a drive
towards automation the need to assert attention to detail and prevent
inaccurate data (“trust but verify”) is especially vital for CFOs since the
buck stops with them. In addition, the other fastest-rising CFO traits,
based on real job descriptions are strategy (2%) and “initiative” (2%)
demonstrating the management qualities required in a CFO. In the
wider CFO’s Office, the fastest-rising skill for accountants is “problem-
solving” rising by 15%. For FP&A jobs, the fastest-rising skill is “attention
to detail” (5% rise during the first four months of 2024) For controllers it
is “self-motivation” (13% rise).
07
Evolution of Soft Skills in
the CFO’s Office
January to April 2024
Changes: January to April
Accountant Controller FP&A CFO
18.9% 18.7%
14.9%
13.3%
7.8%
5.3%
2.0% 3.1% 2.4% 1.9%
-1.6% -0.6% -1.5%
-3.3% -2.2% -2.3%
-4.0% -4.4%
-6.9% -6.0% -6.1%
-8.1% -7.7% -7.6%
-9.1% -8.9% -9.1%
-10.8% -11.7%
-13.3% -14.4%
-20.3%
Communication Organizational Problem-solving Critical Leadership Initiative Self-motivation Attention to
skills skills thinking skills detail
08
Source: 1000 Finance Job posts - Glassdor, Indeed, Job2Careers, Ziprecruiter
CFO Soft Skills
(April 2024)
Attention to
detail
Self-
motivation Communication
skills
Initiative
CFO
Organizational
skills
Leadership
skills
Critical Problem-solving
thinking skills
Accountant
(soft Skills, April 2024)
Attention to
detail
Self-
Communication
motivation
skills
Initiative
Accountant
Organizational
skills
Leadership
skills
Critical Problem—solving
thinking skills
09
FP&A
(soft Skills, April 2024)
Attention to
detail
Self-
motivation Communication
skills
Initiative
FP&A
Organizational
skills
Leadership
skills
Critical Problem—solving
thinking skills
Controller
(soft Skills, April 2024)
Attention to
detail
Self-
motivation
Communication
skills
Initiative
Controller
Organizational
Leadership skills
skills
Critical Problem—solving
thinking skills
10
3. AI mentions in CFO job listings
rises 15% in 2024
The number of US chief financial officer job postings demanding
understanding or knowledge of artificial intelligence has risen by 15%
during the first quarter of 2024.
We see that of all the listings, CFO roles witnessed the highest rise in
mentions of AI and automation, with mentions of AI rising by 15% in the
first four months of 2024. By April nearly one quarter (23%) of CFO job
listings required some knowledge of AI and its implications for the
CFO’s Office or wider business.
For instance, House of Sillage, an haute parfumerie required a CFO who
is “adept at leveraging technology and AI to drive growth and
efficiency, with experience in firm acquisitions and predictive
analytics”. A CFO listing for a New York based series C-Startup required
a CFO “passionate about harnessing the power of AI to solve complex
challenges”. A post for Division CFO at Crossover requires: “using your
financial systems expertise to simplify complex tasks and infuse AI-
driven insights into
day-to-day operations.
Second-highest for an AI skills jump within the CFO’s office were FP&A
roles, seeing a 9% rise and by April 2024, 25% of FP&A roles required
some knowledge of AI. Of all the roles, FP&A teams are most likely to be
asked about their AI knowledge in the job process.
Elsewhere, the AI shift was slower. The role of accountant saw a 4%
increase in AI mentions in their job roles, featured in 17% of roles.
Controller positions saw a 1% increase in AI with the term making up
15% of job post listings for the role overseeing organization's daily
accounting operations, including the accounting, payroll, accounts
payable and accounts receivable departments.
11
AI and/or ML
April January
Yes No
17% 83%
Accountant +4%
13% 87%
15% 85%
Controller +1%
14% 86%
25% 75%
FP&A +11%
14% 86%
23% 77%
CFO +15%
8% 92%
12
4. “Excel” skills shine bright in 37% of all
job posts in CFO’s Office (rising to 69%
for FP&A)
Despite assertions that Excel is “dead” or is set to be replaced within
the CFO’s Office, Excel is explicitly mentioned in 37% of all CFO’s Office
roles. Microsoft Office, of which Excel is included is included
prominently across all job post positions Excel skills are most in
demand for FP&A roles (rising to 66% of all FP&A roles by April 2024),
followed by accountant roles (dropping from 38% In January to 36% in
April 2024) and Controller roles (with specific requirement for Excel
dropping from 33% to 24% in this period). CFOs job were the least likely
to mention spreadsheet skills (though mentions of Excel knowledge
rose from 12% to 17% for CFO postings). SQL, a standard language for
accessing and manipulating databases, is most in demand in
Controller roles and to a lesser extent FP&A roles
13
Excel in the CFO's Office
April January
Yes No
36% 64%
Accountant -2%
38% 62%
24% 76%
Controller -9%
33% 67%
69% 31%
FP&A +3%
66% 34%
17% 83%
+5%
CFO
12% 88%
14
Software Stack
January to April 2024
Changes: April to January
Accountant Controller FP&A CFO
19.5% 18.4%
15.7% 17.2%
14.2% 13.3%
11.9%
7.5% 6.7%
3.5% 2.1%
0.0% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0%
-5.0%
-6.8% -6.0% -
7.5%
-10.1%-8.7% -11.5%
-13.3% -13.7% -13.3%
-16.2%
-20.1%
-26.4%
-30.8%
-55.3%
Microsoft OfficeSAP Power BI SQL Hyperion Tableau Oracle Netsuite
15
Source: 1000 Finance Job posts - Glassdor, Indeed, Job2Careers, Ziprecruiter
Software Stack
January to April 2024
Accountant
Netsuite
Oracle
Microsoft Office
Tableau
Accountant
SAP
Hyperion
SQL Power BI
FP&A
Netsuite
Tableau
Microsoft Office
Oracle
SAP
Hyperion
SQL Power BI
16
Software requirements
April 2024
Controller
Netsuite
Oracle
Microsoft Office
Tableau
SAP
Hyperion
SQL Power BI
CFO
Netsuite
Oracle
Microsoft Office
Tableau
SAP
Hyperion
SQL
Power BI
17
5. Education in the
CFO’s Office
Steady 35% of CFOs required to have
MBA vs only 9% for accountants
A steady 35% of CFOs are required (or preferred) to have secured an
MBA. This remained at the same level for CFO specific postings in
January and April. The requirements for an MBA rose by 6% for
Controllers and 3% for FP&A roles. This rise meant that 25% of FP&A
roles preferred an MBA, 15% for Controllers and 9% of Accountant
posts.
For the CFO, 64% of open vacancies require a master's degree or an
MBA.
This is foll owed by the FP&A position where 42% of open roles require
this, followed by controllers (41%) and accountants (19%).
Looking across all roles in the finance team, 38% of vacancies listed the
need for a CPA
18
Education in
the CFO's Office
19
6. Remote work only
offered in 14% of jobs
in CFO’s Office
The continuing decline of remote or work from home was felt over the
first four months of 2024, dropping from 19% of all advertised positions
to only 14%. However for the accountant position, remote work
opportunities rose by 6%. Accountant roles offer the best work-from-
home prospects (23% of vacancies), followed by controllers (22% of
positions). FP&A roles saw a drop of 5% in remote work opportunities
such that one in five (19%) of all FP&A positions offered work from home
opportunities. Prominent organizations offering remote work for their
finance team included Hennepin Healthcare, Volvo, Allstate. AECOM,
and Harvard University.
20
Remote work prospects
in the CFO’s Office
April January
Yes No
23% 77%
Accountant +6%
17% 83%
22% 78%
Controller
22% 78%
19% 81%
FP&A -5%
24% 76%
12% 88%
+3%
CFO
9% 91%
21
