What it is for
Accounting answers "what happened". CFO answers "what does that mean, and what happens next". Forecasts, scenarios, KPIs, budget variance, cash runway, and a written interpretation rather than only a table.
The design rule that makes it trustworthy: CFO owns no ledger. Every figure computes from posted entries and approved statements in Accounting. There is no second set of books to reconcile, and no possibility of the board pack disagreeing with the accounts.
Home
March 2026 · provisional until close
Three states every number can be in
| State | Means | Shown as |
|---|---|---|
| Final | Computed from a closed period. | The value. |
| Provisional | Computed from an open, unclosed period. | The value, marked provisional. |
| Not connected | There is no data source for this metric. | Nothing — not zero, not an estimate. |
The third one is the important discipline. A metric with no source shows no value at all rather than a plausible-looking guess, because a guess presented alongside real figures is indistinguishable from one and will be quoted as if it were.
The screens
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| AI CFO | Questions answered from your own numbers. |
| Recommendations | Things worth acting on, derived from the data. |
| Financials | Statements, comparatives, consolidated views. |
| KPIs | The metrics you track and how they are defined. |
| Cash flow | Forecast, runway, scenarios. |
| Budgets | Budget against actual, and variance. |
| Tax and audit | Provision views and audit preparation. |
| Firm | For accountants: clients and departments. |
The Firm section lets an accountancy practice manage several client organisations. For a single company, ignore it entirely.
In this section
Asking questions of your own financial data in erp.io CFO, what the answers are grounded in, and where the recommendations come from.
FinancialsAvailableStatements, comparatives and consolidated views in erp.io CFO, and how they differ from the same statements in Accounting.
KPIsAvailableDefining and tracking metrics in erp.io CFO, where each is computed from, and why an undefined metric is worse than no metric.
Cash flowAvailableCash forecasting, runway and scenarios in erp.io CFO — what the forecast is built from and the assumptions it cannot see.
BudgetsAvailableBudget against actual in erp.io CFO — setting a budget, reading variance, and the two variances that are not what they appear.
Tax and auditIn progressTax provision views and audit preparation in erp.io CFO — what is provided, and the clear statement of what is not.
What this does not do
By design. Without Accounting, most of the module has nothing to read.
Headcount figures come from what you enter, not from a payroll system.
Nothing is submitted to any authority.
Figures and commentary, not a produced document.
Inherited from Accounting — entities are summed, not eliminated.
Questions
Do we need Accounting to use CFO?
Effectively yes. Without posted ledger data most metrics show as not connected.
Can our accountant use it across clients?
Yes — that is the Firm section.
Are figures live?
They compute from posted data when you look, and are marked provisional if the period is open.