The Data Behind a Great CFO Shortlist

Anyone can produce a list of CFO names. A shortlist that a client trusts is something else: a set of judgements, each backed by evidence. Here's what that evidence looks like.

Scale and fit

For each name, the scale of balance sheet managed and the sector context — so you can defend why they fit the mandate, not just that they hold the title.

Compensation reality

A read on current pay, so the shortlist is grounded in what it would actually take to move each person. Nothing wastes more time than a shortlist of unaffordable or under-levelled names.

Move likelihood

An honest view of who is realistically open to a change, so effort goes where it can convert.

Board and governance standing

Evidence of seniority and statutory experience appropriate to a listed-company seat.

Assembling it

Pulling this together by hand for a dozen names is the slow part of a search. A structured CFO directory provides the evidence layer, so the shortlist is defensible from the first draft.