Becoming a CFO in Switzerland

Why the path to the top goes beyond your own finance specialism

The path to becoming a CFO can start in accounting, controlling, FP&A, treasury or another area of finance. In Switzerland, a background in auditing, particularly with one of the Big Four firms, can also provide a strong foundation. There is no single career route to the top of the finance function. What successful CFOs increasingly have in common, however, is not that they have become experts in every finance discipline, but that they have developed a broad understanding of how these areas connect and how finance supports the wider business.

Technical excellence remains an important foundation. But as finance leaders progress, the ability to look beyond their own area of responsibility becomes increasingly important: understanding liquidity and financing, contributing to strategic decisions, leading transformation, working with senior stakeholders and taking responsibility for the business impact of financial decisions.

The crucial career question is therefore not simply: What is my next position? It is: What experience do I need to become a more complete finance leader?

The traditional route is enough – sometimes

Many CFOs come from accounting, controlling, FP&A or auditing. This remains a solid route. In Switzerland, experience at a Big Four audit firm can be particularly valuable, providing exposure to different industries, financial reporting requirements and senior management teams. However, it becomes limiting when a career serves only to deepen expertise in one discipline.

“An excellent finance specialist knows their function inside out. A CFO must also understand what the business needs at any given moment and use that understanding to make decisions for the company as a whole”, explains Paul Teisseire, Practice Lead Finance & Accounting at Robert Walters Zurich. “Someone from an accounting background can benefit from gaining experience in operational planning and business partnering. Someone who has built their career in controlling should assess how extensive their experience is with financial statements, liquidity management and financing. The key is to identify and systematically close any potential gaps in your own area of responsibility.”

For finance professionals in Switzerland, this also means understanding different reporting environments. Experience with Swiss GAAP FER and IFRS, alongside the requirements of the Swiss Code of Obligations, can strengthen a CFO profile, particularly when moving between Swiss companies and international groups. The relevant expertise depends on the company's structure and reporting obligations.

Experience in FP&A, treasury, M&A or corporate finance can also strengthen a profile more effectively than the next promotion within a familiar area. What matters most is to deliberately broaden the technical scope of your finance experience: from accounting and corporate performance management to liquidity management and financing, as well as managing financial risks. For aspiring CFOs, this means it is not simply about the next career move, but above all about gradually building a working command of every core finance lever.

The same applies to leadership experience: it often develops from responsibility for projects to leading teams and, ultimately, managing larger finance organisations. At the same time, collaboration with executive management, the board of directors or investors becomes increasingly important. In Switzerland, the board has direct responsibilities for the company's overall direction and financial oversight, making the ability to communicate financial matters at board level particularly valuable.

AI is no longer an IT issue

“No CFO needs to develop AI models themselves,” says Teisseire. “But without an understanding of what automation, data and AI are actually changing in forecasting, reporting and performance management, it will be difficult to credibly lead a modern finance function.”

What matters is not being an early adopter of every new technology. For a CFO profile, it is far more important to take responsibility for implementation and be able to make a tangible contribution to business outcomes. This might involve an ERP transformation, the automation of financial close or planning processes, or an AI use case. The experience becomes particularly relevant when the added value can be demonstrated – for example, through shorter financial close cycles, less manual effort or greater forecast accuracy.

“Projects like these are rarely as straightforward as they look in a presentation,” says Teisseire. “Suddenly, data does not match up, business functions and IT are pursuing different priorities, and decisions cannot be postponed. It is precisely in these situations that it becomes clear whether technology actually results in a faster financial close, a more reliable forecast or better performance management. That shapes a CFO profile far more than another project on a CV.”

Challenging assignments broaden the CFO profile

Restructurings, cost-reduction programmes, challenging financing situations or ERP migrations can provide valuable experience on the path to becoming a CFO. The same applies, however, to periods of strong growth, the internationalisation of a company or the development of a high-performing finance organisation. What these situations have in common is that they confront finance leaders with complex decisions and require not only technical expertise but also strong leadership.

It is particularly during such phases that it becomes clear who can do more than provide sound analysis: who can provide direction, stand behind decisions and oversee their implementation. This requires reconciling different expectations – from the CEO and executive management to the board of directors and investors, as well as auditors.

In Switzerland's multilingual business environment, communication skills add another dimension. Depending on the company and region, German, French and English can all be important for working with management teams, employees and international stakeholders. The ability to communicate complex financial matters across languages and business cultures can therefore strengthen a CFO profile.

“Whether it is restructuring, growth or transformation, the right analysis alone is not enough during challenging phases for a business,” explains Teisseire. “Finance leaders need to identify risks and the need for action at an early stage, develop robust scenarios and clearly advocate for decisions. At the same time, they need to keep implementation in view and bring different stakeholders with them. Those who have already taken on this responsibility gain experience that can only be acquired through theory to a limited extent.”

Securing the first CFO role

Even with a broad finance background and strong leadership experience, securing the first CFO position can be challenging. Boards of directors and private equity investors often favour candidates who have already held the role. For aspiring CFOs in Switzerland, the key is therefore to identify opportunities that offer a realistic entry point.

Taking on a CFO position within a division or subsidiary can provide valuable experience, as can moving to a smaller company to gain broader responsibility. Private equity-backed portfolio companies and interim CFO assignments can also offer opportunities to demonstrate the ability to lead an entire finance function. A deputy CFO position may be another route, although candidates should assess whether it offers a clear path to the top role or risks becoming a long-term second-in-command position.

The scope of the position matters just as much as the title. In Switzerland, CFO roles within subsidiaries of multinational companies may focus heavily on local reporting, compliance and implementing group-level decisions, while strategic responsibilities remain with headquarters. Candidates should therefore assess how much autonomy a position offers over financing, investment decisions and business strategy.

This is where specialist recruitment consultants can add particular value: helping aspiring CFOs identify realistic routes into their first CFO role and positioning their existing experience effectively with boards, investors and hiring decision-makers.

Collect titles, or build experience?

Anyone who wants to become a CFO should therefore look at their CV differently: not as a sequence of increasingly senior titles, but as a record of the responsibility they have taken on and the experience they have gained.

Have you been responsible for transformations and stood behind difficult decisions even in the face of resistance? Which major investment, financing, M&A or business decisions have you helped shape or taken responsibility for – and what was the outcome? Have you engaged with executive management, the board of directors or investors as an equal and actively helped shape digitalisation within the finance function?

Leadership experience is equally important: Have you led teams, developed employees and managers, and built a high-performing finance organisation? Because stepping into the CFO role brings not only greater technical and strategic responsibility, but also greater responsibility for people.

“The best career plan for becoming a CFO does not consist of five job titles that you tick off one after another,” Teisseire concludes. “What matters is the experience you deliberately build. The better question to ask when considering your next career move is: Will this role make me a more well-rounded finance leader?”

Would you like to find out which next step will genuinely develop your profile for a future CFO position?

Our CFO Guide explains the competencies that distinguish modern CFOs, how the role is changing and what matters when developing into a finance leader.

Robert Walters’ specialist recruitment consultants support experienced finance professionals with their career planning and place candidates in senior finance positions. Discover our current finance vacancies or speak to our finance experts.