30-60-90 day plan for CFOs
On this page
- What does a new CFO own in the first 90 days?
- The 30-60-90 day plan
- Which filings and sign-offs fall in a public company CFO's first 90 days?
- Which numbers should a new CFO baseline?
- What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?
- A filled example
- How should a CEO or board use this plan in the final interview?
- What should the CEO ask at the 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins?
- What the CEO and board owe a new CFO
- Common mistakes
- Adapting the plan
- Questions people ask
A 30-60-90 day plan for a new CFO should establish, in this order, that the numbers are reliable, that cash is under control, and that the board, auditors and lenders trust the finance function. In practice: learn the close, the cash position and every deadline in the first 30 days; own the board package and the next reporting cycle by day 60; and present a finance roadmap and a planning calendar by day 90. At a public company the CFO in the seat on a filing date signs the quarterly and annual certifications, as of October 2026, so a filing that lands in the first 90 days shapes the whole plan.
This plan is for a CEO, board or search committee hiring a chief financial officer at a private company, a private-equity or venture-backed business, or a public company. The listening tour that every executive needs is covered in the 30-60-90 day plan for executives; this page covers what is specific to finance. For the person who runs the books underneath the CFO, see the 30-60-90 day plan for controllers.
What does a new CFO own in the first 90 days?
A CFO inherits commitments with fixed dates: a close calendar, filings or lender reports, covenant tests, tax payments, an audit timetable and board meetings. Most of the first month is learning which of these are solid and which depend on one person or a spreadsheet nobody else understands.
| Area | What the new CFO owns | Who they work through |
|---|---|---|
| Close and reporting | Close calendar, flux review, management reporting pack | Controller and accounting team |
| Cash and liquidity | 13-week cash forecast, bank relationships, covenant compliance | Treasury or the controller, lenders |
| Planning | Annual operating plan, rolling forecast, headcount plan | FP&A and department heads |
| Audit and controls | External audit timetable, open findings, control environment | Audit partner, audit committee, internal audit if any |
| Board and investors | Board package, audit committee materials, investor or lender reporting | CEO, board chair, audit committee chair |
| Tax and entities | Tax calendar, legal entity structure, transfer pricing if international | Tax advisor, general counsel |
| Finance team and systems | Structure, key-person risk, ERP and planning tools | Finance leads, IT |
The 30-60-90 day plan
30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Chief Financial Officer, [company]
Reports to: [CEO] Board / audit committee chair: [names]
Start date: [date] Company type: [private / PE-backed / public]
Next filing or lender report due: [date] Next board meeting: [date]
Finance team: [N] in accounting, FP&A, treasury, tax
DAYS 1-30 — Learn how the numbers are made; secure cash
Goals:
- Meet the CEO, each finance lead, each department head, the audit
partner, the audit committee chair and the main banking contact
- Sit in on the month-end close start to finish; read the
reconciliations for cash, debt, revenue and the largest accruals
- Build or review a 13-week cash forecast; compare it with actual
every week from week two
- Read the last audit report and management letter, the last two
board packages, the loan agreements and the covenant calculations
- List every deadline in the next 180 days: filings, lender reports,
covenant tests, tax payments, board and audit committee meetings
Deliverables by day 30:
- A dated finance calendar for the next two quarters, with owners
- A short memo for the CEO: where the numbers are reliable, where
they are not, and the top risks (cash, covenants, controls, people)
DAYS 31-60 — Own the reporting cycle
Goals:
- Review the second close with the controller; agree the close
calendar, review thresholds and who signs off what
- Prepare and present the first board or audit committee finance
package, with variance explanations agreed with the CEO
- Public company: walk through the disclosure committee process and
the sub-certifications before signing any certification
- Reforecast the year with each department head; write down the
assumptions they are signing up to
- Assess the finance team: roles, key-person risk, open positions
Deliverables by day 60:
- Board package delivered; reforecast with stated assumptions
- Audit readiness list: open findings, owners, dates
DAYS 61-90 — Set direction
Goals:
- Present a finance roadmap: close timing, systems, controls, team
- Publish the calendar for next year's operating plan and budget,
working back from the board meeting that approves it
- Agree the KPI set for the CEO and board reporting
- Make one structural decision within agreed decision rights
(a hire, a system change or a process change)
Deliverables by day 90:
- Roadmap reviewed by the CEO; KPI pack agreed with the board
- Next-year planning calendar issued to department heads
Check-ins: weekly with the CEO; day 30, 60 and 90 reviews.Which filings and sign-offs fall in a public company CFO's first 90 days?
At a public company the calendar is set by SEC deadlines, not by the CFO's onboarding. As of October 2026, the Form 10-Q general instructions give 40 days after quarter end for large accelerated and accelerated filers and 45 days for other registrants, and the Form 10-K general instructions give 60, 75 or 90 days after year end depending on filer status. Three obligations follow the CFO personally:
- Section 302 certifications. SEC Rule 13a-14 requires each principal executive and principal financial officer "at the time of filing of the report" to sign a certification for each 10-Q and 10-K, and the certification cannot be signed under a power of attorney.
- Section 906 statement. 18 U.S.C. 1350 requires a written statement from the CEO and CFO that each periodic report complies with the Exchange Act and fairly presents the company's financial condition, with criminal penalties for knowingly false certification.
- Internal control over financial reporting. Management assesses its controls each year, and the auditor's attestation applies to accelerated and large accelerated filers; the SEC's guide to filer definitions explains who is exempt. The controller usually runs the control work; the controller plan covers it in detail.
Two other relationships carry formal duties. The external auditor must communicate certain matters to the audit committee under PCAOB AS 1301, including critical accounting policies, critical accounting estimates, significant risks and significant unusual transactions, so the new CFO should know what the auditor plans to say before the next audit committee meeting. And under the SEC's cybersecurity disclosure rules, a material cybersecurity incident must be disclosed on Form 8-K within four business days of the company determining it is material; finance usually sits in that materiality decision, so the CFO should know the incident escalation path by day 30. This section is not legal or accounting advice; confirm the company's obligations with its securities counsel and auditors.
At a private company the equivalent dates come from contracts: monthly or quarterly lender reporting, covenant compliance certificates, audited statements due to lenders or investors a set number of days after year end, and investor updates under a shareholder agreement. Read the agreements themselves in the first two weeks; a summary from someone else is how covenant tests get missed.
Which numbers should a new CFO baseline?
Baseline what the company is already measured on before adding anything. The standards in the last column are examples only; agree real targets with the CEO and board.
| Measure | Why it matters | Example standard (example only) |
|---|---|---|
| Days to close | How quickly leadership sees last month | Known and documented by day 30; a target set by day 90 |
| 13-week cash forecast versus actual | Whether cash surprises are possible | Weekly variance explained from week three |
| Covenant headroom | Distance from a default | Calculated for each test date in the next four quarters |
| Forecast accuracy by department | Whether the plan can be trusted | Variance by owner shown in the day-60 reforecast |
| Audit adjustments and open findings | Where the books were wrong before | Every open finding owned and dated by day 60 |
| Days sales outstanding and payables timing | Working capital the company can release | Baseline with the top ten customers and vendors by day 30 |
What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?
| Checkpoint | On track | Worth a direct conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Day 30 | Has seen a full close; cash forecast running weekly; every deadline for two quarters on one calendar; has met the audit partner and the audit committee chair | Knows the numbers only from the board deck; has not read the loan agreements; no view of the next filing or covenant date |
| Day 60 | First board package delivered with clear variance explanations; reforecast assumptions owned by department heads | The package is the old template with a new name on it; the forecast is finance's guess rather than an agreement |
| Day 90 | Roadmap reviewed by the CEO; planning calendar issued; one structural decision made and explained | A list of problems with no priorities; a reorganization announced before the roadmap |
A filled example
CFO: Marisol Ortega (invented), first CFO hired from outside at a private-equity-backed industrial distributor, previously a divisional finance director.
Day 30: Sat through the close and found that inventory reserves were set by one long-tenured accountant without written support. Built a weekly 13-week cash forecast and found that the revolving credit facility's quarterly leverage test fell eight days after a large supplier payment, which nobody had connected.
Day 60: Moved the supplier payment within agreed terms, documented the reserve method with the controller and the auditors, and delivered her first board package with a reforecast that each branch manager had signed off. Told the board plainly that the prior forecast had overstated second-half margin.
Day 90: Presented a roadmap to shorten the close, replace the spreadsheet consolidation, and hire an FP&A manager. Issued the budget calendar working back from the December board meeting.
How should a CEO or board use this plan in the final interview?
Asking CFO finalists for a short 30-60-90 day plan works well, provided every candidate gets the same brief: company type, the next filing or lender reporting date, the board calendar and one known issue. The guide on how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview covers the brief, red flags and a scoring rubric. For a CFO, a strong plan names the close, cash, the auditors, the covenants or filings and the board, in that kind of order, and avoids promising cost cuts before the candidate has seen the books. Useful follow-up questions:
- "Our next 10-Q (or lender report) is due three weeks after your start date. What do you need to see before you sign?"
- "What would you read first in our credit agreement, and why?"
- "The board's forecast turns out to be wrong in your first month. How and when do you tell them?"
- "Which finance role would you look at first, and what would tell you it needs to change?"
The broader interview guide for finance roles covers the rest of the loop.
What should the CEO ask at the 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins?
- Day 30: Which number in our reporting do you trust least, and why? What is the next date that could hurt us?
- Day 60: Where did the reforecast change your view of the year? What did the auditors or lenders tell you that I have not heard?
- Day 90: What in your day-30 memo turned out to be wrong? Which decision do you need from me or the board to deliver the roadmap?
What the CEO and board owe a new CFO
- Direct access to the audit committee chair and the audit partner in the first two weeks.
- An honest account of past restatements, audit findings, covenant waivers or disputes with lenders.
- Clear decision rights: spending authority, hiring authority within finance, and who approves changes to forecasts shown to the board.
- Time: no new acquisition, refinancing or system project started in the first 60 days unless it was already committed.
Common mistakes
- Strategy before control. A CFO who spends the first month on a growth model while the cash forecast is monthly can be surprised by a covenant test or a payroll week.
- Signing what they have not walked through. Certifications and lender compliance certificates carry personal accountability; the process behind them is a day-one priority.
- Replacing the controller too fast. The controller often holds the history of every judgment in the books. Learn it before deciding.
- Presenting a new board pack in week three. Change the format after the first cycle, once the board has seen the CFO deliver the old one accurately.
Adapting the plan
- Venture-backed company hiring its first CFO: expect to build the close, the forecast and the board pack rather than inherit them. Weight days 1-30 toward cash runway and the cap table.
- Private-equity-backed company: the sponsor's reporting pack and the credit agreement set the calendar. Meet the sponsor's operating partner in week one.
- Public company: build days 1-60 around the next filing, the disclosure committee and the audit committee meeting.
- CFO who also runs operations or technology: combine this plan with the 30-60-90 day plan for COOs or the 30-60-90 day plan for CIOs, and agree which areas wait until after day 90.
The general structure for any role is in the 30-60-90 day plan template for new hires, and the finance manager plan shows how the close and forecast ramp one level down.
Questions people ask
What should a new CFO do in the first 30 days?
Learn how the numbers are made before changing them: sit in on the month-end close, build or check a 13-week cash forecast, read the last audit management letter, the loan agreements and the last two board packages, and meet the audit partner and the audit committee chair. By day 30 the new CFO should have a dated calendar of every filing, covenant test, tax payment and board meeting in the next two quarters.
Does a new CFO have to sign SOX certifications right away?
At a public company, yes, if a filing falls due while they are in the seat. SEC Rule 13a-14 requires the principal financial officer at the time a 10-Q or 10-K is filed to sign the certifications, and 18 U.S.C. 1350 requires a separate written statement, as of October 2026. A CFO who starts a few weeks before a filing needs to understand the disclosure process and the sub-certifications behind it before signing. This is not legal advice; confirm with securities counsel.
How is a CFO's 30-60-90 day plan different from a controller's?
A controller's plan centers on the integrity of the books: reconciliations, internal controls, accounting policies and the audit. A CFO's plan covers those through the controller and adds cash and capital, the operating plan and forecast, lender and investor relationships, the board and audit committee, and the structure of the whole finance team.
What should a CFO present to the board at 90 days?
A finance roadmap that the CEO has already reviewed: what the first 90 days showed about the reliability of the numbers and the cash position, the risks and how they are being handled, the changes planned for the close, systems, controls and team, and the calendar for next year's operating plan. The board wants a diagnosis and a direction, not a list of everything changed.