u/nickjlevine

I’m sure many here are familiar with the concept of Ben Horowitz’s peacetime CEO / wartime CEO concept, which is often extended to CFOs too.

 Leaders in peacetime environments have predictability over their trajectory, which is often backed up by periods of macro economic growth which can lead to hyperscaling. Whereas  leaders in wartime environments are in a much more challenging environment where their focus should just be on survival through managing cash flow and expenses tightly.

Feels like the last couple of years are leading to violent swings between optimism about economic growth and fear related to geopolitics concerns.

Most CFOs will fall into one of these two buckets based on their expertise and experience so my question is it better for companies to have a peacetime or wartime CFO in 2026?

A lot of the posts on this subreddit are from members who are in long tenures in FP+A roles, who are asking for advice to progress their career to the likes of CFO.

Not discounting that thisprocess isn’t easy but job titles mean different things at different sized companies.

Smaller companies may list what is in reality a single Head of Finance role as "CFO" due to being relatively early stage. These types of roles will often be a single individual working in finance, with core bookkeeping and tax services outsourced to public accounting firms. 

This approach can be a good way of short circuiting your way to a more senior job title which you can use to negotiate further salary increases in future roles

We’re spoilt for choice with over 700 apps on SuiteApp, but I sometimes struggle to surface the best emerging ones for specific use cases.

The toggle options for industries, products, and featured apps are helpful, but I’m not aware of a way to drill down into company specific needs within subcategories.

Does anyone have good tips or workflows for keeping abreast of newer entrants and making sure you’re picking those that are the best fit?

I was today years old when I learned what lily padding is. Basically Gen Z workers job hop every year or two to pick up new skills, expand their network, and bump up their salary faster.

As tempting as that sounds, I’m not sure I’d take that route if I were starting over. My path into accounting was qualifying as a chartered accountant (the UK equivalent of a CPA), which requires a mandatory three year commitment backed by an employer.

That said, once you’re fully qualified I can totally see the appeal. Once you've got those letters after your name, nobody can take them away, which gives you a solid safety net to take bigger jumps.

Imagine those starting out via the non qualification routet may have a different view on this.

Seeing a lot of posts on here lately from CPAs working in publish accounting struggling to pivot into other areas in finance.

Having a CPA is a solid foundation and gives you the core skill set to make the leap. From my experience, taking a small pay cut or a title step-down in the short term is often the fastest way to open the door to a new area of finance.

You’ll probably second-guess yourself for the first few months. But once you’ve banked 12 to 18 months of experience in a new area, you can leverage that to jack your salary right back up in your next move.

I’ve done this twice in my career so far, and both times it was 100% worth the temporary hit.

So many people on this sub act like getting into accounting locks you into one path forever.

The truth in 2026 is that it’s a great springboard for a variety of other careers or as an opportunity to follow your passions.

As a UK chartered accountant who now specialises in working with fintech companies, my tip is to devote a few years of your life to get your accounting qualification and to then pivot into specific areas that interest you.

And in the worst case scenario you’ll never be out of work as an accountant if we hit an economic downturn.

Automation and AI won’t fix a broken spreadsheet. Fix your processes first

Automation and AI tools are obviously a hugely positive force that have the potential to reduce errors and save time in FP&A but they will only be as good as the underlying processes behind them.

I’ve been in various roles over the years where the workarounds are considered “good enough” as they get the job done. But this mindset limits how far tech tools can take you.

Carve out the time to properly carve out and nail your underlying processes. A dedicated sprint is worth it as this will save you so much time over the long run once you can properly put the tools to work. 

There’s a lot of hype on accountants vibe coding to solve product gaps but I don’t think this will catch on in the mainstream.

I’m not doubting how easy it is to use tools like Lovable and Claude to spin out streamlined workflows but I predict the main ERP and payments platforms will spot and incorporate the obvious process improvements.

I can see more of a case of vibe coding for complex multi entity organisations but SMBs should be cautious about inputting their data into third-party tools for security reasons.

Keen to see how this one plays out.

Hi all,

I just came across a Reuters article (I won’t link to this so I stay within the community rules) on how company valuations are being stretched, making it harder for them to access equity funding.

This is tying into a broader trend of high-growth companies having to become more sustainable by reducing their burn rates and potentially building a pathway to profitability.

Clearly this will be high up on the agenda for any CFOs working in a high growth organisation. Conserving cash and managing working capital are becoming more important than ever.

While the central tenets of managing cash remain the same - speeding up receivables, controlling payables, managing inventory, monitoring cash flow, controlling expenses, and maintaining a cash buffer. the way they are handled has changed due to being underpinned heavily by automation and tech.

I’m keen to hear which of these areas you are focussing on most?

While maintaining a massive cash buffer is nice in theory, it's just not practical for many right now. So, I’d imagine the best move is leveraging those automation-powered tools to collect cash faster and pay suppliers just in time, keeping cash in the business longer.

Which of these methods are you actually using to manage working capital in your organisation?