The CFO Programme

The CFO Programme is a 10-day senior finance programme delivered by Mars Training Centre UK in London, Dubai, Geneva, New York and Paris — designed for finance directors, deputy CFOs, group financial controllers, and senior finance leaders preparing for the chief financial officer role.

The CFO role has changed beyond recognition. The CFO once owned the books; today the CFO co-owns strategy, technology, capital allocation, investor relations, risk, and increasingly sustainability — all while remaining personally accountable for reported financial information. The leaders who step up to this role well give their organisations a sharper financial centre of gravity; those who are not ready arrive at the CFO chair without a clear plan and lose the first six months trying to find one.

Across ten days delivered as two consecutive working weeks, you will cover the breadth of the modern CFO agenda: financial reporting and accounting policy, planning and forecasting, capital allocation, treasury, tax, controls, investor relations, transformation, technology, and personal leadership at chief officer level. The cases are drawn from CFOs operating across the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East, and the work is delivered by senior practitioners with CFO and finance leadership experience.

What You Will Learn

• Define the modern CFO agenda and how to set the priorities of the role.
• Lead a finance function across reporting, planning, treasury, tax, and controls.
• Set accounting policy and direct technical accounting at group level.
• Build and run a planning and forecasting cycle that supports strategic execution.
• Lead capital allocation across investment, acquisition, and shareholder returns.
• Manage banking, debt, and equity relationships at chief officer level.
• Set tax strategy and govern tax risk at the highest level of the organisation.
• Direct internal controls and financial risk management across the group.
• Communicate with investors, analysts, and rating agencies with credibility.
• Lead finance transformation, technology change, and the finance operating model.
• Operate at the executive committee and board level with confidence.
• Build personal resilience and a leadership identity at chief officer intensity.

How You Will Benefit

You will leave with a structured understanding of the modern CFO agenda, a personal plan for the role, and a Mars Certificate of Completion.

Your organisation will gain a senior finance leader prepared for the chief financial officer role, capable of operating at the executive committee, and ready to direct a finance function across the full modern agenda.

Who This Programme Is For

This programme is designed for senior finance leaders preparing for the CFO role, including:

• Deputy CFOs and Finance Directors
• Group Financial Controllers
• Heads of FP&A in groups large enough to have a separate CFO
• Senior Business Unit Finance Partners preparing for group CFO succession
• Senior public-sector finance directors
• Family-business finance principals stepping into group CFO responsibility
• Senior partners in advisory firms moving into corporate CFO roles

The seniority floor is director level and above. The programme is delivered in person over ten days as two consecutive working weeks, with a Mars Certificate of Completion awarded on the final day.