The Rise Of The Advisory CFO with Sara Daw

**Is the future of finance full-time? Or are the best CFOs increasingly working across multiple businesses?** **Is there someone you’d like to see on The CFO Playbook? Email us at: pr@soldo.com** In this episode of **The CFO Playbook**, David McClelland is joined by **Sara Daw**, Global CEO of **The CFO Centre** and the Liberty Group, and one of the world’s leading voices on fractional finance leadership. Sara shares why more businesses are choosing to access CFO expertise rather than employ it full-time, and explains what she’s learned after more than two decades working alongside hundreds of finance leaders across 18 countries. She explores how the CFO role has evolved from technical expert to trusted strategic adviser, why relationships matter more than reporting, and how the best finance leaders help CEOs make better decisions. In her conversation with David McClelland, Sara discusses her own unconventional career journey from Deloitte and London Business School into the emerging world of fractional finance, why she chose flexibility over investment banking, and how that decision led to building the world’s largest network of fractional CFOs. She also explains what makes a successful fractional CFO, how businesses know when it’s time to hire a full-time finance leader, and why access to leadership is becoming more valuable than ownership of talent. Sara also shares her research into the future of work, including psychological ownership, blended workforces, and how organisations can build trust and commitment beyond traditional employment models. Finally, she looks ahead to an AI-enabled finance function, explaining why judgment, ethics, and human relationships will become even more valuable as finance becomes increasingly autonomous. **In this episode, you’ll learn:** - Why businesses are increasingly hiring fractional CFOs - What CEOs really value from finance leaders beyond technical expertise - The signs a business is ready for a full-time CFO - The skills that separate great fractional CFOs from the rest - How to build trust and psychological ownership in flexible teams - Why relationships matter more than reporting - How AI is changing the future of finance leadership - Why judgment, ethics, and communication will become a CFO’s greatest competitive advantage **About Soldo** Soldo is the proactive spend management solution that frees progressive businesses to accomplish more. Learn more: https://www.soldo.com/en-gb/ Useful Links 🔗 Sara Daw - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradaw/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohan-hewavisenti-b716617/