Managing Up as a Finance Manager: Working With a Difficult CFO or MD
The relationship with your manager shapes your working life more than almost anything else. For Finance Managers and Financial Controllers, that manager is usually a CFO or Managing Director. When the relationship works, you learn, grow and enjoy your job. When it does not, even a good role can become exhausting.
Difficult CFOs and MDs come in many forms. Some micromanage. Some change their minds constantly. Some never make decisions. Some explode under pressure. Some push for numbers that make you uncomfortable. Some are simply never available.
This article offers practical ways to work with a difficult CFO or MD, protect your professional standards and recognise when it is time to leave.
First, understand what kind of difficult
Not all difficult managers are the same. Understanding the pattern helps you respond.
The micromanager checks everything and struggles to delegate
The changer shifts priorities and requests constantly
The absent manager is never available and makes decisions late
The pressure cooker reacts badly to bad news or deadlines
The number pusher wants results presented in a particular way, sometimes crossing lines
The credit taker presents your work as their own
Each needs a different approach. Many managers show a mix.
Working with a micromanager
Micromanagement usually comes from anxiety or lack of trust. Reduce the anxiety by giving information before they ask. A short daily or weekly update, clear timelines and early warnings of issues can reduce the urge to check everything.
Over time, as they see your reliability, many micromanagers step back. Ask directly what would help them trust you with more independence.
Working with a changer
When priorities shift constantly, clarify and confirm. When a new request arrives, ask how it ranks against existing work. Summarise agreed priorities in writing. This protects you and helps the manager see the trade-offs they are making.
Working with an absent manager
If your manager is rarely available, make the most of the time you have. Prepare short, clear decisions for them, with a recommendation. “I recommend we accrue for this. If I do not hear otherwise by Thursday, I will proceed.” Agree what you can decide without them.
Working with a pressure cooker
If your manager reacts badly to bad news, the temptation is to delay it. Do not. Late bad news always makes things worse. Deliver it early, calmly and with options. “Revenue will be $400,000 below forecast this month. Here is why, and here are three things we could do.” Over time, many reactive managers learn that you are the person who helps them solve problems.
When the pressure is about the numbers
This is the most serious situation. Sometimes a CFO or MD pushes for numbers to be presented in a way that is misleading, or asks for accounting treatments that are not appropriate.
Protect your integrity. Explain the accounting position clearly and in writing. Offer legitimate alternatives. If pressure continues, escalate appropriately, which may mean the audit committee, board or external auditor. Keep records. Your professional body’s ethics guidance can help.
No job is worth your professional reputation. If you are asked to do something clearly wrong, it may be time to leave, and to seek advice about your obligations.
When your work is taken as theirs
Some managers present your analysis as their own. That can be frustrating, especially if it limits your visibility with senior leaders.
Build your own visibility in other ways. Offer to present part of the results. Build relationships with other leaders. Keep a record of your work and achievements. For more, see presenting to the executive team for the first time.
Have the conversation
Many difficult relationships improve with a direct, respectful conversation. Choose a calm moment. Focus on how you can work together better, not on what they are doing wrong.
“I want to make sure I am giving you what you need. It would help me to understand how you would like updates, and which decisions you are happy for me to make.”
Protect yourself
Look after your wellbeing. Difficult managers can create real stress. Keep boundaries around your time where you can, talk to trusted people outside work and use any employee assistance program if needed.
Keep a record of important instructions and decisions, especially where accounting judgements or ethics are involved.
When it is time to leave
Some relationships cannot be fixed. Signs it may be time to go include:
Pressure to act against professional standards
Ongoing disrespect or bullying
Your health or wellbeing is suffering
No path to development or recognition
You have tried to improve things without success
Leaving is not failure. Plan your move carefully, update your resume and look for a manager you can learn from. When asked why you are leaving, keep it professional. For more, see answering “why are you leaving?”.
Choosing your next manager well
In your next job search, assess the manager as carefully as the role. Ask about their style, how they like to work and how they have developed their team. Speak to people who have worked with them if you can. A great manager can accelerate your career. A difficult one can stall it.
Document the important things
With a difficult manager, clear records protect you. After important conversations, send a short email summarising what was agreed. “Thanks for the discussion today. As agreed, I will accrue the $80,000 freight invoice this month and review the provision next quarter.”
This is not about building a case against your manager. It is about clarity. It reduces misunderstandings and protects everyone if questions arise later, especially on accounting judgements.
Build relationships beyond your manager
If your relationship with your manager is difficult, other relationships become more important. Build trust with other senior leaders, the auditors and peers in other teams. They can offer perspective, support and, eventually, references.
A wider network also means your reputation does not depend entirely on one person.
When the difficult manager is the owner
In family and owner-managed businesses, the difficult manager may also be the owner. That can be harder, because there is often nobody above them and the business reflects their personality.
The same principles apply. Understand their style, communicate in the way they prefer, deliver bad news early and protect your integrity. If personal and business finances are mixed, handle it carefully and with advice from the external accountant. For more, see the Finance Manager in a family business.
What a good manager looks like
It can help to remember what good looks like. A good CFO or MD sets clear expectations, gives you room to work, hears bad news calmly, backs you when you are right, gives honest feedback and helps you grow.
If your current manager does few of these things and shows no willingness to change, it is reasonable to look for one who does.
Talking about it in interviews
If you are leaving because of a difficult manager, never say so directly in an interview. It raises doubts, even when it is true. Focus instead on the kind of working relationship you are looking for. “I do my best work with a CFO who gives me real ownership of the finance function and wants to hear issues early.” That tells the panel what you need without criticising anyone.
A worked scenario
Consider Leah, a Financial Controller at a $70 million Auckland logistics business. Her CFO changes the board pack format most months, often two days before it is due. The team works late to rebuild it, and errors creep in.
Leah tries three things over two months.
She drafts a board pack template and asks the CFO to approve it as the standard format.
She agrees a cut-off. Changes requested after day six go into the following month’s pack unless they are urgent.
She sends a short summary email after each pack review, confirming what was agreed.
The CFO resists at first. He agrees once Leah shows that last-minute changes added 25 hours of overtime and two corrections to board papers in the last quarter. Within three months the pack is stable, and it goes to the board a day earlier.
Not every difficult manager responds this well. But clear structure, backed by evidence, gives most of them a reason to change. It also gives you a useful achievement to talk about later.
Common mistakes
Delaying bad news to avoid a reaction
Complaining about the manager to others in the business
Compromising professional standards under pressure
Never having a direct conversation
Staying too long when the relationship is harming you
Your next step
Identify which type of difficult manager you are dealing with and try the matching approach for a month. If nothing changes, plan a direct conversation. If the problem is ethical, seek advice promptly.
If you decide it is time to move, my Gold package covers your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn and positioning strategy.
If you want an outside view on your situation, book a complimentary Clarity Session.
