Pieter de Kiewit
Managing Director / Senior Recruitment Consultant
At Treasurer Search, we understand that becoming a CFO is a goal for many treasurers. To shed light on this path, we just finished a survey on the career paths of 50 CFOs who previously worked in treasury. We only scratched the surface and will keep on digging but already wanted to share some of the results with you.
Previous surveys show that transitioning from treasury into a CFO role does not happen too often. In comparison to group controllers, chief accountants and others, a relatively small number of treasurers make it to the board. And the treasurers are already a minority!
The findings in this survey reveal key trends in how these former treasurers transitioned into their executive roles. We found that nearly half of these CFOs started their careers directly in treasury, while the other half gained experience in other roles, such as banking, consulting, or audit, before transitioning to treasury and eventually to the CFO position.
The Role of Training and Education
A surprising finding? Only 9 out of 50 candidates completed treasury-specific training. For many, so it seems hands-on experience and learning on the job were more valuable than formal treasury education. We also see this with corporate treasury professionals in general, where the percentage of those who completed a treasury education is even lower. So translating ambition into education still remains a good investment.
Education did of course play a key role in their career advancement, with the most common qualifications being at the Master’s level. These degrees were in the fields of economics, business economics, and finance, with a few having backgrounds in related fields like law. We will invest further time to find out if the treasurers who became CFO more often have a postgraduate degree like CPA, MBA, RT and CFA.
CFO Transition Insights
As for when these CFOs reached their role, the average age was 43, with the range spanning from 32 to 57. This shows that the journey to CFO can happen at different stages in a career, though many treasurers make the transition in their 40s with a track record of over 15 years.
Of the 50 CFOs surveyed, 22 (44%) started directly in treasury and then moved on to become CFOs. This confirms that treasury can be a strong foundation for those aiming for executive roles, with many leaping without needing extensive experience in other areas.
