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How MSPs Crack The CFO Code

Selling to a CFO is a different beast entirely. To put it simply, it’s less about ‘razzle-dazzle’ and more about rhythm and reason. MSPs who’ve built their sales motion around technical need or security fear-mongering often find themselves missing the mark completely when they sit down across from a financial-minded executive. That being said, having buy-in from a CFO and turning them into a champion for your business is incredibly powerful and can lead to a client relationship like no other. 

To help MSPs decode the CFO way of thinking, I sat down with Kyle Christensen, Co-Founder of Empath and an outspoken MSP alum who’s spent years untangling the complexity of selling IT services into finance-forward environments. 

He breaks down what most MSPs get wrong, how to fix it, and why being “boring and predictable” might actually be your most powerful value prop: 

Understanding the CFO Mindset

The biggest mistake MSPs make when pitching CFOs  is assuming that they think like everyone else. According to Kyle, that assumption is a surefire way to lose trust early, and possibly for good. To sell to a CFO, you have to understand what their job actually is, not just what you imagine it to be. “What a CFO really does (if the org is large enough to have one) is manage cash flow and budget. Most people think they’re just bookkeepers, but that’s a controller. A true CFO is managing long-term financial health and scale.”

That perspective shift is a big one. Where many MSPs lead with technical risk or compliance exposure, CFOs are often tracking a much different set of variables. Specifically ones that tie directly to margin, growth rate, and capital runway. As Kyle explains, “A good CFO isn’t just looking to restrict spending. They’re making sure the company grows in a way where percentages stay in check (8% on sales and marketing, 3% on IT, etc.) as revenue scales.”

This kind of thinking is foreign territory for most MSPs, especially those working with SMBs who may not have a formal CFO in place. “Most MSPs deal with companies that don’t have a trained CFO. They may have a fractional one, or someone acting like one. So half the time you’re educating them as much as you’re selling.” And if that sounds like extra work, just wait until cash flow gets tight. That’s when the wallet closes and every line item becomes negotiable, no matter how “critical” you think IT is. “Cash flow is where things get real. Even if they’re profitable on paper, if the checking account balance keeps dropping, they’re going to cut spending fast.” This is the lens you have to adopt if you want to sell successfully into the office of the CFO.

What CFOs Hate About MSPs

Let’s be honest: MSPs don’t always have the best reputation in finance circles. In fact, if you were to ask most CFOs how they feel about their IT provider, you’d probably get a mix of eye rolls and sighs. According to Christensen, that reputation isn’t entirely undeserved and it usually comes down to one thing: unpredictability.

“We become a pain in the ass to CFOs when we say things like, ‘You need to buy a server yesterday’ or ‘Microsoft is increasing rates in two weeks.’ That unpredictability destroys their ability to hit KPIs.” He’s right in the sense that when an MSP creates surprise spending, it can be damaging to a company’s budgetary planning. CFOs build detailed financial models, and those models are fragile. Tossing in an urgent purchase or licensing change without notice can break the whole equation. It doesn’t matter if it’s justified. If it wasn’t forecasted, it’s now a problem.

“They might care about cybersecurity, but they care more about how unplanned costs derail their financial modeling. You can’t just say ‘risk’ and expect it to resonate.” This is one of the hardest pills for MSPs to swallow. We’ve spent years training ourselves to lead with risk such as data loss, ransomware, compliance failures. While these are important to a CFO, the real risk is budget volatility. “Surprises that aren’t built into their math problems are aggravating. These are spreadsheet people. Your job is to be boring and predictable—because that’s what makes them feel safe.”

What CFOs Actually Want

Kyle doesn’t mine words when he says, “Predictable spending is the #1 way to make a CFO like you.” Be boring in the best possible way. When your invoices arrive like clockwork, when your pricing doesn’t spike out of nowhere, and when everything you recommend is part of a known and budgeted plan, you become the kind of partner that CFOs actually want in their corner.

Unfortunately though predictability isn’t enough on its own. You also have to show that your presence is contributing to their most important goals. As Kyle puts it, “Make them look good. If your MSP can contribute to better net margin, improved AR, or faster onboarding of new employees, then they’ll keep you around.”

That’s the real play here: not just managing IT, but helping the business move faster and spend smarter. If you can be tied to outcomes that impact margin or cash flow (in a good way) you’ve got a CFO advocate for life. On the flip side, nothing burns that goodwill faster than those dreaded surprise invoices or mountains of technical debt that blow up in their face when they least expect it.

Speaking Their Language: KPIs & ROI

If you want to build trust with a CFO, you have to stop talking like a tech and start talking like an operator. That means skipping the jargon and showing how your services affect the numbers that actually matter to them. According to Christensen “Net margin is their North Star. If revenue falls short, they’ll look for things to cut that won’t affect that bottom line. IT is often one of the first in line.” That’s the uncomfortable truth. When things tighten up, IT spend gets scrutinized fast. If you can’t show a direct link between your services and the company’s ability to protect margin, you’re on the chopping block. And that connection needs to be more than implied. It needs to be measurable.

Another metric that often flies under the radar for MSPs but is mission-critical for CFOs is their cash runway. “Days of cash on hand is a metric a lot of CFOs track. If all revenue stopped, how many days could they survive?” When you realize that CFOs are managing existential risk on a daily basis, it becomes clearer why unexpected IT costs trigger alarm bells. Your pitch has to speak to those concerns directly. Talk about how you’re helping them preserve capital, shorten onboarding cycles, or reduce churn through better tech-enabled workflows.

In other words, show them the math. Whether it’s reducing unplanned downtime, speeding up time-to-productivity for new hires, or lowering the cost-per-ticket through automation, CFOs want to see a clear cause and effect between your service and their bottom line. If you can’t do that, then don’t expect them to buy your value proposition.

Easy Wins With CFOs

Before you try to pitch a massive IT overhaul or lead with a long-term managed services roadmap, start by solving a small financial problem. Kyle Christensen says these are the moments that build credibility faster than any security stack or onboarding pitch ever could. “An easy first win is offering to audit all license costs, whether you manage them or not. Find bloat. Eliminate waste. That speaks volumes.”

This approach not only shows that you understand their world but it also proves that you’re willing to add value before asking for more budget yourself. CFOs are constantly looking for ways to cut overspend, especially on recurring unused SaaS tools. You show up with a detailed audit that eliminates redundancy or idle licenses? You’ve just done more for their KPIs than most vendors ever will.

And speaking of KPIs, Kyle advises MSPs to drop the usual ROI pitch altogether. It rarely lands the way we think it does. “Start the conversation by saying, ‘There is no ROI here, but I’m here to help you hit your KPIs and avoid surprises.’ That’s more honest and more valuable.” The idea is to reframe your value not in theoretical returns, but in real-world impact. Clean, consistent execution. Predictable billing. Reduced waste. These are things that actually help CFOs hit their goals. 

Driving The Conversation

CFOs aren’t waiting around for vendors to help them think strategically. In fact, most have already made up their minds about which expenses are essential and which ones feel like financial landmines. But according to Kyle, this is exactly where the MSP can flip the narrative by stepping into a more collaborative, advisory role. “You might say, ‘I know we’re just IT people to you, but tech is expensive. I’m sure there’s waste somewhere. Let me be part of the solution, not the problem. Especially because I guarantee I’ll ask you to buy something this year you didn’t plan for.’”

That level of transparency is rare and surprisingly effective. It shifts the tone from “here comes another IT bill” to “this person is on my team.” CFOs don’t expect perfection, but they do expect preparation. If you can position yourself as someone who’s helping them anticipate costs instead of reacting to them, the dynamic changes immediately.

That’s why Kyle also recommends going one step further. “Say to them: ‘Treat me like your internal IT department. Let’s build a budget so you’re not caught off guard when these things hit.’” You’re showing that you understand their pressures and that you’re actively looking for ways to de-risk their spend. The result is that they will be far more likely to bring you into conversations that go beyond tickets and renewals and into the realm of long-term planning.

Forecasting, Growth, and Modeling

Once you’ve earned trust with the CFO, the real opportunity begins. Not in day-to-day support, but in the long-term planning that shapes how their business grows. Christensen suggests, “If a client says they want to grow, ask: by how much? Are you adding headcount? Revenue? A new location? Then you can model the impact of that growth on tech needs (before they even ask).”

This is where most MSPs fall short. They wait to be told what’s changing, then scramble to adjust. But CFOs are already modeling this growth months or quarters in advance. If you’re not showing up with a forward-looking plan that scales with their vision, you’ll never be part of the growth conversation. You’ll just always be chasing it from behind.

Kyle also makes an important distinction: “Forecasting is different from budgeting. It’s: ‘If nothing changes, here’s where we’ll land.’ You have to understand both to talk CFO.” Understanding this difference is crucial. Budgeting is static—it’s what’s been approved. Forecasting is dynamic—it reflects how business realities shift over time. If you can start showing how IT spend flexes alongside these forecasts, you become an asset in their financial modeling process. “CFOs live in spreadsheets. Show up with a model that scales IT spend alongside their growth, and they’ll be impressed if you even thought to do that.” It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to show that you’re thinking ahead and thinking like they do. 

Conclusion

If there’s one theme that cuts through everything Kyle Christensen shared, it’s that most MSPs are looking at this through the wrong lens. They talk about risk and reliability, but ignore the financial predictability and strategic clarity that CFOs actually care about.

It’s worth repeating that CFOs don’t want to be surprised. They don’t want a sales pitch full of buzzwords. And they definitely don’t want another vendor making them look bad when the numbers don’t line up. What they do want is a partner who understands their job, helps them do it better, and has answers before questions even get asked. That’s the invitation on the table. You can stay a line item on the P&L or you can become a line of defense for margin, cash flow, and long-term scale.