The All-Round CFO

Amartya Singh (Intro): Vinod, you’ve had the opportunity to work across public companies, private growth environments, and multiple finance and operating roles — it’s great to have you on the show.

Vinod Hariharan: I started my career in audit at PwC, but moving into Salesforce during the early SaaS wave fundamentally changed how I viewed finance in a scaling business.

Vinod: In high-growth environments, you’re forced to deeply understand revenue drivers, customer acquisition, and operational efficiency — not just focus on reporting accuracy.

Amartya: More and more CFOs are being promoted to CEOs, which is a great thing because boards are increasingly recognizing CFOs as enterprise leaders.

Vinod: Taking on RevOps, legal, HR, and IT alongside finance gave me real visibility into how decisions get made and how value is actually created.

Amartya: When finance leaders step into operating roles like RevOps, they begin to see how strategy, execution, and metrics truly connect.

Vinod: You’ve got pipeline metrics, conversion rates, bookings, gross and net ARR, cost structure — and ultimately liquidity tying it all together.

Vinod: Public-company environments teach you cadence and discipline, while private companies demand faster iteration and adaptability.

Amartya: Focusing on growth, apart from bringing balance in finance, is extremely important — and that clearly comes across in your approach as well.

Vinod: When working with the board, it’s not just about the numbers — it’s about the clarity of the narrative and where the business is heading.

Vinod: You’ve got to have the foundation of strategic thinking — how you want to tell that story to the board and the outside world.

Vinod: People are good at identifying their ICP, but how do you go and operationalize that ICP across sales, marketing, and customer success?

Vinod: AI is going to significantly accelerate budgeting and forecasting cycles by helping teams pressure-test scenarios much faster.

Vinod: Financial reporting is one of the most natural use cases for AI because interpretation and pattern recognition matter more than rules.

Vinod: I’ve told my team to run financial models through an LLM to challenge assumptions and refine outputs more efficiently.

Vinod: That’s where solutions like FinFloh definitely help out — you can make sure your accounts receivable is automated, your application of cash is streamlined, and you’re signing on customers who are credit worthy.

Amartya: Thanks for mentioning us — and I completely agree that using AI within an A/R product to drive cash flow visibility and outcomes makes a lot of sense.

Vinod: Build your profile, build your personal brand — that’s how I’ve helped many folks on my team take the next step toward becoming CFOs.

Vinod: Always be curious — it’s good to step out of your swim lane, get more exposure into the business, and understand how other parts of the organization operate.

Amartya (Closing): Thanks Vinod for coming onto the podcast and sharing your views and sharing your thoughts with us.