The following is a guest post from Oreoluwa Onabowale, FP&A leader at GE Vernova. Opinions are the author’s own.
Finance lives by rules. Close calendars, approval gates, CapEx hurdle rates, variance thresholds. But what happens when following the rules means missing the right decision?
The best CFOs I know are not just enforcers of process. They know when the business needs them to bend the rules. Not recklessly. Not to make the numbers look good for a quarter. But to keep the business moving forward when timing, risk and opportunity collide.
I have seen it firsthand. A star hire appears mid-year, outside of the headcount plan. A once-in-a-decade market opportunity opens up, but the investment case is still rough around the edges. A critical supplier is on the brink of collapse, and procurement’s payment terms will push them over.
The CFOs who lead with courage do not hide behind policy. They pause, weigh the risk and override the rule, and they tell the business why. Those moments build enormous trust with the CEO and the board because they prove finance is not just a gatekeeper but a business partner.
When rules hold you back
Rules keep the business honest. But, followed blindly, they can hold it back.
Take capital approval gates. Most companies set an internal hurdle rate for projects, a minimum IRR every business case must clear. In theory, this ensures that only value-creating investments go forward. In practice, it can create analysis paralysis when a project misses the hurdle by half a percent but is strategically critical.
I once sat through a review where an operations leader was pitching a capacity expansion. On paper, it came in just below the hurdle rate because of a temporary spike in steel prices. The easy answer would have been to decline and send them back to rework the model. Instead, the CFO approved it on the spot, citing market demand and supply chain risk as reasons not to delay. Six months later, the plant was running at full capacity, and the payback period came in faster than projected.
Breaking the rule was not a shortcut. It was a judgment call made with eyes wide open, and it paid off.
Not every override is a win.
Years ago, I watched a business push through a major systems upgrade outside of the normal budget cycle. The CFO approved it quickly to secure a vendor’s limited-time pricing. The implementation was rushed, key stakeholders were not aligned, and adoption lagged. The system eventually worked, but months later and with far more manual workarounds than planned.
That experience taught me that judgment calls must still respect fundamentals: Stakeholder readiness, capacity to execute and a clear mitigation plan if things go sideways. Breaking rules should create speed, not chaos.
The difference between judgment and recklessness
This is the fine line that separates a CFO who is trusted from one who is seen as reckless.
Breaking rules does not mean ignoring them. The best CFOs know which guardrails are non-negotiable, controls that protect integrity, compliance and financial stewardship. They do not compromise on those.
But when it comes to business rules like CapEx thresholds, hiring freezes or budget limits, they stay flexible. They ask three questions before making the call:
- What is the risk of acting now?
- What is the risk of waiting?
- What story will I need to tell the board if this does not work?
This level of clarity ensures that overrides are intentional, transparent, and defensible.
The moments that build trust
I once heard a CEO say during a heated review, “If we follow the process, we will miss the window.” The CFO paused, looked around the table, and said, “Then let us change the process.” That moment shifted the room, and the project got the green light.
I remember a cycle where tariffs spiked unexpectedly. Procurement wanted to renegotiate contracts to claw back savings, but the commercial team had just closed a major deal at aggressive pricing. The models suggested holding guidance flat. The CFO instead guided slightly below consensus and explained the rationale on the earnings call, along with clear mitigation actions.
When tariffs rose again, the company landed exactly where guidance suggested, and credibility with investors went up. Breaking the “always guide to consensus” rule was not a weakness; it was wisdom.
It is easy for finance to hide behind process. “Policy says no” is the safest sentence in the room. But the CFO’s job is not to be the safest person in the room. It is to be the one with the clearest view of risk and return and the courage to call it.
Sometimes that means saying yes when the process says no. Other times, it means holding the line when everyone else wants to charge ahead. Either way, the call is yours, and the credibility you build in those moments will define how the business sees finance for years to come.
The CFO’s balancing act
Rules keep the business honest. Judgment keeps it alive. The CFO who can balance both becomes more than a scorekeeper; they become a strategist.
The best CFOs do not just follow the rules. They know which ones to bend, and they bend them in a way that keeps the business moving forward without losing trust. That is what turns finance from a control function into a driver of long-term value, inside the company and in the eyes of investors.
The companies that thrive are led by CFOs who know when to enforce discipline and when to bend the rules to unlock opportunity.
