CEO Time Management: Financial Tasks You Should (and Shouldn't) Be Doing

When running a business, every hour has a price tag. But not all tasks should be billed at your hourly rate. As a CEO or founder of a growing business, your role is to steer the ship, not get lost in accounting systems and spreadsheets. You will get to a point where you have to ask yourself: "What should be on my financial plate, and what should I pass to someone else?"

Let's walk through this together.

Find out which financial tasks you should hand off, and which ones need your strategic eye.

Should I still be managing the books?

Short answer? No.

Long answer? Definitely not!

Bookkeeping is the core of your financial system, but it's also highly detailed and time consuming. If you're still reconciling accounts or manually categorizing transactions, you're costing the business more than you're saving.

What to do instead: Hire a reliable bookkeeper or outsourced accounting team. Your focus should be on interpreting the numbers, not compiling them.

Is it okay if I'm still approving every invoice or expense?

It's natural to want control. But there's a difference between oversight and micromanagement. Approving every line item might feel responsible, but it's actually slowing down the business.

What to do instead: Implement approval workflow and spend policies. Delegate invoice approvals (when possible) with a clear structure. This frees up your time while maintaining trust and control.

Caveat: If you are a solopreneur it will be difficult to delegate invoice approvals even with a bookkeeper. You want to still maintain segregation of duties as much as you can and may need to remain the approver in the approval workflow.

What financial tasks should I definitely be involved in?

As CEO, you should have your hands in the following:

• Strategic planning and forecasting: Are we moving toward our vision? You shouldn't be building the forecast, but asking the right questions to guide the business in the right direction.

• Cash flow conversations: Not just what's in the bank, but what is coming and going, and why?

• Pricing and profitability: Understand the levers that truly impact growth and margins. And again, asking the right questions.

• Fundraising and financial decisions: If money is coming in or going out in a big way, you should be at the table.

What to do: Make space on your calendar for financial thinking, not financial tasks. you don't need to run the model, but you need to ask the right questions about what it's telling you.

What about monthly reports? Should I be reviewing them?

Yes. You should be reviewing them, not building them.

You should review your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement every month.

What to do: Partner with someone who can distill the financials into insights. You need a story, not just numbers.

Am I spending too much time on financial fire drills?

If you're constantly putting out financial fires, something upstream is broken. Late invoices, unhappy vendors, and surprise tax bills are symptoms of a problem at the root.

What to do: Invest in proactive financial systems and people. You deserve a business that's built to run well, not one that constantly needs saving.

So, what is my financial role as CEO?

You are the visionary. The one who asks:

• Are we growing profitably?

• Do we have enough runway?

• Is this the right time to invest or pause?

• Are we aligned financially with where we say we want to go?

Every minute you spend deep in tactical finance is a minute you're not innovating, coaching your team, fundraising, or dreaming about what comes next. When you hit $1M in revenue, time becomes your most valuable currency and time management is essential. So spend it like the CEO!

Want a CFO partner who helps you think bigger, plan smarter, and stay grounded in the numbers that matter most?

Let's talk.