Earlier this week I was driving around Nor Cal.
We were visiting family for the holidays and headed back to the airport in San Francisco - a city I’ve been to but don’t know very well.
I was in a rental car, in a new city, and everyone was getting hungry…
Obviously I routed us to In-N-Out for a quick and superior lunch, but the line was literally around the block at 3pm.
As I was navigating the parking lot mess in an unfamiliar car (Kia Carnival for those curious), my wife quickly remembered the Taco Bell about a quarter mile back down the road and guided me there. She saved the day.
In that moment, the difference wasn’t the map - it was having a trusted copilot who also enjoys a high-quality meal at the fine establishment of Taco Bell…
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The two finance relationships (from the finance seat)
More on that Taco Bell copilot analogy in a bit…
I’ve supported dozens of business leaders in my finance career from pre-revenue startup to publicly traded fortune 100 - many have shaped the way I think about business and leadership in a positive way.
But one pattern I’ve noticed is that there are two very different kinds of business leaders when it comes to their relationship with finance.
Finance as a service provider
Finance as a strategic partner
Neither of these is right or wrong.
(we’ll talk more about each one and why I say that with sincerity)
Let’s explore how each one functions and which is right for your business.
Also, if you’d rather watch this as a video, check this out:
Type 1: Finance as a service provider
I want to be very clear here, there is nothing wrong with founders, owners, or executives treating finance as a service provider. In fact, it’s how I recommend every business start out from pre-revenue through at least $1M-$2M (depending on industry/complexity).
Here’s what it feels like when finance is a service provider:
Finance is kept downstream of decisions
Outputs are requested of finance, not co-created
Timing of finance deliverables are dictated by leadership, not decision cycles
This model works extremely well if you have the following assets: A very strong leadership team and a weak finance leadership team (or one you don’t trust).
When you run this model you can keep costs down - because you are dictating exactly what finance is providing.
This might be a bookkeeper or accountant closing the books, producing reports, running payroll and taxes, and maybe even providing a bit of advice.
The mindset here is that finance is a cost center (which it is) and your job is to use it to mitigate your financial risks.
Type 2: Finance as a strategic partner
Eventually though, every business will elevate itself to using finance as a strategic partner.
Looking top-down at large public companies, we see that CFOs are overrepresented as CEO successors relative to how few CFOs exist versus COOs & divisional presidents.
Which tells us a lot about the relationship between finance and the business leaders at the highest levels of performance - it’s a very tight relationship.
When finance is a strategic partner, here’s what that looks like:
Finance has a seat at the table
Finance owns the uncomfortable decisions
Finance drives the operating cadence and frames the storyline
When finance functions as a strategic partner, it allows the CEO/owner/founder declare the vision (the ‘what’ and ‘why’) while finance enables the business to develop the strategy (or the ‘how’).
Difficult decisions are then filtered through the CFO before they are brought to the CEO - they have clear tradeoffs, CBAs, etc.
In this world, finance becomes value-added to the business. Where business leaders are challenged to do more with less and held accountable to outcomes.
The copilot effect
Back to that Taco Bell driving analogy…
I’ve seen this so many times that I almost take it for granted - business leaders hit a breaking point where they need a skilled copilot.
Every business, owner, founder is different but the pattern is similar:
The business is founded on willpower and effort - the founder has the entire plan in their head and makes decisions around the clock based on gut instinct
The business grows, people get hired, and accountability gets pushed to others - the founder gets some mental capacity back as others do the work but but starts to feel the weight of holding their team accountable while setting strategy
[the breaking point] The founder now spends all of their time driving the performance of the business, putting out fires, and reacting to each broken process as they happen
This is where finance as a strategic partner can step in.
Finance builds the monthly operating system to drive performance using reporting, insights, and accountability - the founder simply shows up and asks questions that unblock the business leaders
Finance works behind the scenes to ensure expenses are in-line with expectations, cash flow is healthy, and projected revenue will achieve the owner’s goals for the year
Finance drives the right conversations with business leaders so that the founder doesn’t get pulled deep into the weeds of the business every day
Finance studies the marketplace and industry to understand the metrics and trends, pricing strategies, and develop trade-offs that the owner can evaluate and approve
This is what it feels like to have a financial copilot in your business - someone who can sit alongside you and anticipate your next steps based on where you want to be.
When your business was headed for 20% revenue growth (In-N-Out) but faces an issue with the sales process (a line around the block), your finance copilot can see it happening in real-time and reroute your to still achieving the 20% revenue growth (Taco Bell).
When/how to hire a financial copilot
For many owners/founders, the most logical next step is asking their accountant or controller to assume this role. They already have access to data and you likely trust them.
The simple next step for this is 1. inviting your accountant into the room where business decisions are made while 2. asking them to become your financial advisor for the business.
Here’s what they should be optimizing for:
Cashflow health and cash visibility
Profit margin clarity and expense discipline
Decision confidence and scenario modeling
Annual budgeting and financial forecasting
Optimizing for stronger enterprise value
These are all learned skills that may require them to learn/train/grow in to be proficient. But with a bit of patience and practice, they can achieve this.
(check out our paid products at the bottom of this email which are designed to teach you all of this)
Option 2 is hiring a seasoned financial copilot. This is often the faster path since there are a lot of highly qualified finance professionals who have been-there-done-that for solving the specific issues in your business today.
In fact, we have the Forecasting Performance CFO Partners who are vetted and ready to help you drive business performance in 2026.
If you are looking for one for your business you can either 1. reply to this email and we’ll be in contact or 2. take our Finance Performance Assessment which will kickstart the process on getting you matched to the best CFO partner for your business needs.
How we can help:
Build your own FP&A Operating System so you can drive more impact through a best-in-class FP&A process.
Looking to elevate your FP&A leadership skills? Steal our Finance Manager Playbook to help you drive a healthy, high-performing finance team culture.
Get step-by-step video instruction on designing your perfect FP&A Flywheel. It’s the exact process we use when transforming FP&A teams.
Looking for your own financial copilot for your business? Take the Finance Performance Assessment to get matched with your CFO partner.
Brett Hampson, Founder of Forecasting Performance
