Catch-all CFOs go beyond traditional finance, but at what cost?

The responsibilities of a Chief Financial Officer have expanded to areas critical for modern business, including data and analytics, AI, cybersecurity, technology and sustainability – but this broadening remit comes with increased risk.

Pitcher Partners’ first Business Radar report for 2026 finds that middle market CFOs have morphed into the Chief Figure-it-out Officers, expected to bring expertise in financial management and commercial leadership as well as other non-core skills.

Highlighting the changing job description of a once tightly-defined role, 82% of business leaders surveyed said their CFO or financial manager is taking on key business responsibilities that go beyond traditional finance – that aren’t seen to fit neatly under anyone else.

Almost half of respondents said their CFO took care of risk, governance and compliance, and a further third said data and analytics, tech and digital oversight were part of the portfolio.

Jyotika Rangel, Partner at Pitcher Partners Sydney, said the role of a CFO is significantly different to that of even five years ago, and change is unlikely to slow down.

But she warned business leaders to be wary about ballooning responsibilities.

“Finance tends to be the catch-all, handed anything that doesn’t neatly fit into the remit of other departments,” she said.

“The CFO is already comfortable navigating regulation within finance, and that skillset is now seen as transferable into compliance and governance around areas not necessarily in their expertise, such as analytics or ESG.

“As a result, leaders rely on finance experts when it feels like there’s no one else to go to, and there needs to be greater awareness, because the CFO might not always have the resources they need to lead in these areas.”

The Business Radar report found organisational responsibilities are rarely clear cut – and while distinct executive roles remain, more than half of businesses (57%) operate with one person managing blended or overlapping roles.

Skills CFOs will be expected to have in the coming years, according to Business Radar respondents, include technology, data and AI literacy (54%), cross-functional working (33%) and ongoing skills development (31%).

However, even as CFOs expand into new and complex areas, less than a third of respondents said they were worried their finance leaders would make errors or work with blind spots.

Leaders want their expanding CFO to demonstrate diverse thinking (86%), improved cross-departmental alignment (84%) and faster decision-making (84%), but there is less awareness about the potential downsides of stretching the role, such as unclear accountability (39%), succession risks (35%) and difficulty replacing talent (32%).

Gavin Debono, Partner at Pitcher Partners Melbourne, said there was a concerning over-estimation regarding the expertise of many CFOs. Few had the capability to diagnose or resolve issues in all the technical areas they were now expected to manage, and rapid role expansion created the risk the CFO would be overloaded or could miss things.

“As responsibility continually defaults to finance, they might find themselves having to design AI-driven finance operations or embed ESG and sustainability metrics into financial reporting and decision-making,” he said.

“While this scope creep may seem seamless to an observer, given the CFO is already integrated into the business, capability gaps create unseen risks.”

To address the need to upskill the Chief Figure-it-out Officer, business leaders are looking to different models, such as fractional or outsourced CFOs or teams, to ensure they have the right expertise.

A fractional CFO is a financial professional who works virtually or part-time, or in a consulting role, and they may work across multiple organisations.

Scenarios where Business Radar respondents would consider bringing in an outsourced CFO include during recruitment for a permanent CFO (39%), to access specialist expertise (39%), and during periods of transformation or growth (39%).

“An external expert can help to relieve unnecessary pressure on your CFO, while helping deliver the best outcomes,” Ms Rangel said.

“We’re definitely seeing this trend in Sydney, with local and international businesses increasingly looking to outsource all or parts of their finance function.

“This lets them take advantage of deeper expertise while reducing the costs and risks that can come from maintaining a skilled in-house finance team.”

Respondents also expect AI to play a greater role in financial operations, which could free up the CFO from some of their traditional work.

One respondent noted: “A lot more of the work can be completed by AI, so the role of CFO will evolve to do other tasks as well.”

Peter Lawrence, Partner, Pitcher Partners Newcastle and Hunter, said while AI had value, artificial models could not replicate the communication skills, project and stakeholder management, or emotional intelligence that makes a great CFO.

“The role of CFOs or finance leaders has likely already expanded beyond finance, into technology, strategy and cross-functional leadership,” he said.

“This is why leaders should not train or hire finance leaders on financial literacy alone.

“A strong finance leader needs communication skills, project management capacity and EQ, along with the self-awareness to know when an issue is outside their expertise.”