Present your initial financial estimates to go-to-market teams as a draft and ask for their expertise to refine the numbers. This makes them partners in the forecast, shifting the dynamic from a product pitch to a shared business goal.

Don't make high-stakes decisions in a silo. Involve stakeholders throughout the discovery and analysis process. Having finance review your P&L or sales weigh in on customer pain builds shared context and turns your recommendation from 'your bet' into 'our bet.'

A good CFO reports the numbers. An extraordinary CFO has the intellectual curiosity to ask second and third-order questions, transforming the finance function from a "traffic cop" into a strategic arm that deeply understands and influences the unique drivers of the business.

A one-time meeting with finance is "surface level" advice. To truly build financial acumen, PMs must integrate hard financial targets and business levers directly into their squad's goals. This creates an enduring, operational fluency that informs daily product decisions.

The true purpose of a budget is not to limit spending or perfectly predict outcomes. Its value lies in creating a baseline for comparison. Analyzing why actual results differ from the budget provides critical insights for strategic adjustments, turning it into a tool for understanding, not judgment.

With a defined process, a sales leader can confidently tell the CEO they will miss a quarter but quantify the high probability of deals closing next month. This allows for strategic decisions, like calculating the exact profit given up to pull deals forward versus waiting.

Don't confine financial data to the finance team. Use FP&A and BI tools to deliver real-time operational and financial data directly to plant and operations managers. This helps them understand the dollar impact of their decisions, transforming them from pure operators into business managers who actively drive profitability.

Don't just review past performance with your financials. Use them to model how pulling one lever, like increasing marketing spend, will impact other areas of the business, such as the need for more sales staff. This shifts accounting from a reporting task to a strategic planning function.

Figma's CFO measures his team's success not by forecast accuracy, but by whether other departments view them as creative problem-solvers. The goal is to be seen as a business accelerant that others want to involve, rather than a "go/no-go police" to be avoided.