Most finance professionals know that the role of the CFO has expanded significantly in the past decade. But too many still have trouble delegating duties the role has outgrown.
So says Marya Burgio Wlos, CFO of Community Financial System based in Syracuse, New York.
“Too often, CFOs continue to act as the sole owners of financial insight or spend excessive time validating historical data and managing reporting demands,” she says. “While those responsibilities remain important—particularly in highly regulated industries like financial services—they should no longer consume the majority of a CFO’s attention.”
In conversation with CFO Leadership, Burgio Wlos shares where exactly CFOs should be focused, and how to build a team strong enough to support them.
What responsibilities do you think CFOs are still holding onto that they should let go of?
The CFO role has evolved well beyond traditional financial oversight, which is ultimately a major advantage for organizations because it brings a financial lens to strategy, cost management and enterprise decision-making. With that expanded mandate, however, CFOs must become more intentional about delegation and talent development.
Too often, CFOs continue to act as the sole owners of financial insight or spend excessive time validating historical data and managing reporting demands. While those responsibilities remain important—particularly in highly regulated industries like financial services—they should no longer consume the majority of a CFO’s attention.
Today’s CFO should focus more on capital allocation, organizational capability and strategic decision-making, while empowering direct reports to take greater ownership. Delegation not only improves efficiency, but also develops the next generation of leaders, whether they remain in finance or move into broader operational or revenue-generating roles.
How are you redefining what “strong financial leadership” looks like inside your organization today?
Strong financial leadership is no longer about centralized expertise. It is about building an organization where leaders at every level understand how their decisions impact growth, profitability, risk and long-term value.
To support that, we are developing customized KPI reporting tailored to each department leader’s scope of responsibility. These reports are reviewed in one-on-one discussions to ensure leaders understand the data, feel comfortable asking questions and can challenge assumptions when appropriate. One of finance’s most important responsibilities today is creating organizational alignment around a single source of truth.
The expectation is that this knowledge cascades throughout the organization. Department heads bring those conversations back to their teams, and those teams continue the dialogue with their staff. Our goal is to build a company full of individuals who understand how to run a business from both sides of the ledger and who are willing and able to make difficult decisions when necessary.
We reinforce this approach through quarterly business reviews, which create additional accountability, alignment and strategic focus across the organization.
How has your leadership perspective evolved as you’ve taken on the CFO role—and how does that show up in the way you lead the finance function?
My previous experience taught me how to absorb large amounts of information quickly, identify what is truly material and remain calm amid uncertainty. As CFO, those skills have become even more critical.
Earlier in my career, success was largely tied to having the right answer. Today, success is more about asking the right questions, aligning stakeholders and enabling sound decision-making across the organization. I spend a great deal of time listening, reflecting and reevaluating, because information is constantly coming from multiple internal and external sources and it is important to separate actionable priorities from noise.
Finance teams are often made up of high-performing individuals who have visibility into more aspects of the business than any other department. My role is to ensure the team has the platform, clarity and support to articulate goals, manage challenges effectively and focus on the issues that matter most.
We make decisions collaboratively, with the goal of creating shared ownership and accountability for outcomes. I also believe non-traditional career paths can strengthen finance leadership because they expose leaders to broader perspectives on risk, growth and opportunity.
What advice would you give to executives who want their finance leaders to operate more strategically?
The most important factor is access. Finance leaders cannot help execute company strategy if they are not included in strategic conversations early and consistently.
My advice is to communicate frequently with finance teams, both one-on-one and in group settings, and to give them a genuine seat at the table. Building those relationships creates stronger alignment and ultimately better business performance, particularly given the level of expertise required to succeed within the finance function.
The most strategic finance leaders are deeply connected to the business itself, not isolated within finance. Modern CFO leadership is less about controlling the numbers and more about building an organization capable of making smarter, faster and more financially disciplined decisions at every level.
