The Problem with Promoting Your Financial Controller to CFO Too Soon

Promoting your Financial Controller to CFO? Be careful — it’s not always the shortcut it looks like.

Yes, they’ve been loyal. They know your business.

But moving from Controller to CFO isn’t a step up — it’s a leap.

We often see:

– Weak board presence

– Lack of strategic input

– Missed forecasting accuracy

– And the founder still deep in the numbers

That’s not CFO-level leadership. That’s survival.

Sometimes the answer isn’t demotion — it’s support:

– Bring in a mentor

– Add an interim CFO

– Or assess if now’s the time for a permanent upgrade

At Pitch Hill Partners, we help founders make the right CFO call — not the convenient one.

If your finance setup feels stretched, drop me a message. No pitch. Just perspective.

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