Why CFOs Are Rewriting the Rules of Payments Strategy

Jessica Albright · 2026-08-14

It’s a truism in business that the CFO’s mandate only moves in one direction: It expands over time. A CFO’s responsibilities rarely recede; they simply continue to grow. That’s partly because financial services now make up a larger slice of the U.S. economy, but it also reflects the growing influence CFOs have on how organizations handle payments. The days when the CFO was just the keeper of the books are long gone. Today, they’re shaping everything from cash flow to corporate strategy. Hugh Thomas, Lead Analyst of Commercial and Enterprise at Javelin Strategy & Research, has studied this shift closely. In his report *The Mandate Is the Message: How the CFO’s Expanding Remit Shaped Payments Provider Strategy*, he explains how seismic events—most notably the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic—have expanded the CFO’s role in ways that would have been unthinkable two decades ago. “At one time the CFO was a sort of ops person,” Thomas said. “Now it’s a seat at the big table.” ### The CFO's Expanding Mandate The financial component of any business’s performance has always been a key focus for shareholders. But today, those financial decisions have broader implications for operational performance, including how effectively organizations manage working capital and launch new initiatives. As a result, CFOs are increasingly judged not only on financial results but also on how they communicate their company’s performance to the markets. They’re no longer just number crunchers; they’re storytellers who must translate complex financial data into clear narratives for investors, board members, and even employees. At the same time, new responsibilities continue to emerge for CFOs around the world. In Europe, for example, a CFO’s payments platform may need to provide provenance information. Concerns such as forced labor in manufacturing—including issues tied to recent tariff policies—mean companies must monitor and document their supply chains with a level of detail that was once reserved for auditors. “If you want to ensure you can’t get hit with those tariffs, you need to understand the provenance of everything that you buy—who manufactured it and how fair were their labor practices,” Thomas said. “In Europe, tracing provenance is already a pretty big business for the transaction banking types. And we expect that that will be even more so. This is now an exigency on the CFO.” This isn’t just a European trend. As global supply chains become more complex, U.S. CFOs are also feeling the pressure to know exactly where their materials come from—and to prove it to regulators, customers, and partners. The payments platform they choose can either make this easy or turn it into a nightmare. ### The Dot-Com Bust and the Trust Factor When public confidence was shaken by the dot-com bust, CFOs took on the responsibility of explaining why investors could trust their company’s numbers. They also needed to communicate their confidence to the financial services provider managing their transaction banking and payments operations. That meant being more transparent about their own processes and expectations. Ideally, CFOs should share their teams’ priorities and objectives with their payments partners, allowing those providers to deliver solutions that align with the company’s needs. “Don’t take your suite of payment solutions out and be the guy with a hammer looking for nails,” said Thomas. “Understand that what the CFO is being asked to do will give you the message about whether you need a hammer or a saw.” ### What COVID Changed—and Didn’t Change Six years later, it’s clear that the pandemic had a lasting impact on the CFO’s role. During the early stages of the pandemic, when the future was uncertain, CFOs had to ensure their companies had sufficient cash reserves and balance sheet resilience to withstand a prolonged disruption. That meant making tough calls about spending, renegotiating contracts, and sometimes tapping into credit lines they never thought they’d use. The other major impact was operational. Companies had to move many critical processes onto employees’ remote systems and home networks. Suddenly, the CFO had to trust that accounts payable could run from a kitchen table without falling apart. “We’d rather have as few portals as possible working on something that’s effectively our ledger,” said Thomas. “The CFO had to give everyone the confidence that they were going to be able to do it remotely and effectively.” Over time, it became clear that many aspects of business could continue operating this way. Aside from security considerations, there was little reason that accounts payable teams couldn’t perform much of their work remotely. It also became clear that many employees wanted to maintain some degree of flexibility. The old 9-to-5 office routine wasn’t coming back—and that’s okay. Now there’s renewed interest in collaboration and working together in shared spaces, but the lessons of the pandemic remain. CFOs are still thinking about how to build resilient, flexible payment systems that can handle anything from a global health crisis to a sudden shift in market conditions. They’re also thinking about how to balance security with convenience, and how to choose partners who understand their evolving needs. ### What This Means for Payments Providers For payments providers, the message is clear: You need to listen more and pitch less. The CFO’s world is more complex than ever, and a one-size-fits-all approach just won’t cut it. Providers that take the time to understand a CFO’s specific challenges—whether that’s supply chain transparency, remote work, or cash flow management—will be the ones who win the business. So the next time you’re talking to a CFO, remember: They’re not just looking for a tool. They’re looking for a partner who can help them navigate an ever-expanding mandate. And that’s a role worth stepping into.