Golf clubs are changing. Members want more. Boards expect more. And that means CFOs must do more. Traditionally, club CFOs were stewards of the books – focused on accounting, compliance, and managing vendor payments. But today’s CFO is being called to the forefront of growth strategy. In fact, new benchmarking data revealed at the HFTP Club Summit in Myrtle Beach, SC, confirms that clubs are actively seeking CFOs with expanded skills that go far beyond number crunching.
The benchmarking data identified five essential skills that clubs now prioritize when hiring a CFO:
- Leadership experience
- Communication skills
- Forecasting experience
- Capital projects/renovations experience
- Strategic planning experience
For today’s club CFO, meeting these heightened expectations isn’t just about professional development – it’s about having the right tools to lead effectively. Unfortunately, many golf club CFOs rely on outdated, manual accounts payable (AP) processes that hinder their ability to deliver strategic value. These systems leave them stuck in the weeds of day-to-day operations, unable to focus on the high-level work that fuels club growth and increases long-term revenue.
Here’s a closer look at each of the five finance skills – and how automation through invoice-to-pay solutions can empower CFOs to meet these demands and drive their golf clubs forward.
1. Leadership Experience: Leading Beyond the Ledger
Boards want CFOs who can inspire teams, influence decisions, drive change, and take ownership of the club’s financial future. A CFO who leads effectively can align finance with overall club strategy, improve operational performance, and help drive initiatives that enhance the member experience.
But leadership is impossible when CFOs are bogged down in approvals, chasing paper invoices, or responding to vendor calls. Manual AP processes force CFOs to focus on the day-to-day instead of stepping back to lead, leaving little room for mentoring staff or shaping cross-functional initiatives.
Automation digitizes and streamlines the entire invoice-to-pay process – from invoice capture and approval routing to electronic payments and reconciliation and reporting. That means less time for operational tasks and more time leading teams, driving projects, and influencing club strategy.
2. Communication Skills: Presenting with Confidence
The modern CFO is expected to present to boards, committees, and even large member audiences. Whether explaining financials, pitching capital investments, or answering tough questions – communication is key. CFOs who communicate clearly and confidently foster transparency and trust, helping secure board buy-in for key initiatives and ensuring alignment across departments.
But if a golf club’s numbers are buried in spreadsheets or coming from disconnected systems, it’s hard for CFOs to present with confidence. Manual invoice-to-pay processes create data silos, increase the risk of reporting errors, and make it harder to respond to stakeholder questions.
With real-time reporting and visibility into all AP activity, invoice-to-pay solutions equip CFOs with the insights they need to clearly explain cash flow, club spending, and vendor liabilities. Automated solutions enable CFOs to walk into every presentation with clean data and clear visuals.
3. Forecasting Experience: Seeing What’s Ahead
Forecasting has never been more critical for golf clubs. From seasonal cash flow swings to planning for dues revenue and events, accurate forecasts inform better decisions. When CFOs can confidently forecast future performance, golf clubs can make smarter staffing, investment, and programming decisions – each of which drives long-term financial stability and sustainable growth.
But forecasting is tough when data is fragmented across systems – or worse, still coming in on paper. Without consolidated data, CFOs are stuck making educated guesses instead of informed projections.
Invoice-to-pay automation provides centralized visibility into payables activity, allowing CFOs to easily monitor trends, identify timing issues, and adjust projections based on actual commitments. Integrated dashboards eliminate the guesswork and make forecasting more dynamic and accurate.
4. Capital Projects and Renovations Experience: Managing Big Investments
Clubs are investing in renovations and new amenities to attract and retain members. CFOs are expected to not only budget for these projects but also manage spending and ensure accountability. A CFO with experience in capital projects can help avoid cost overruns, ensure vendor accountability, and maximize improvements that enhance the member experience and boost revenue potential.
That’s a tall order when you’re juggling vendor contracts, paper invoices, and manual check runs. Without automation, tracking project-related spending is time-consuming and error-prone.
Invoice-to-pay automation supports capital project management by offering general ledger (GL) coding, budget tracking, and workflow approvals for large-ticket items. CFOs can ensure spending is within scope, invoices are tied to the correct projects, and no payment goes out without authorization.
5. Strategic Planning Experience: Shaping the Future
The days of the reactive CFO are over. Clubs want CFOs who can anticipate market shifts, member expectations, and operational risks – and who can develop plans to navigate them. Strategic CFOs play a key role in long-term growth by identifying opportunities to improve margins and services.
But strategic thinking requires time and perspective – two things that CFOs don’t have when AP is still a mess. When CFOs are consumed with invoice backlogs and payment errors, they miss opportunities to analyze trends and guide a club’s strategy or optimize payments to suppliers.
By digitizing invoice processing and supplier payments, automation frees CFOs from administrative burdens so they can focus on high-level strategy. With spending visibility at their fingertips, they can model scenarios, identify savings opportunities, and proactively support the club’s long-term goals.
Choosing the Right Invoice-to-Pay Platform to Empower Club CFOs
To step fully into this new, more strategic CFO role, golf club finance leaders need tools that support leadership, not limit it. The right invoice-to-pay platform should be more than a utility – it should be a growth enabler. When evaluating invoice-to-pay platforms, consider the following:
- Automate the entire process from invoice capture through payment reconciliation. Look for solutions that eliminate manual data entry, speed approvals, and streamline payment processing. Automation reduces errors and ensures that the payables process runs efficiently.
- Prioritize seamless software integration. Integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting systems ensures that data flows smoothly between systems, reducing the need for duplicate entries and minimizing the risk of discrepancies or delays in reporting.
- Provide real-time visibility and reporting. A modern CFO always needs access to up-to-date data. Look for invoice-to-pay platforms that offer graphical dashboards, drill-down capabilities, and customizable reports that support daily operations and long-term planning.
- Offer built-in controls for approvals, fraud prevention, and audit readiness. CFOs are ultimately responsible for financial controls. Choose an invoice-to-pay solution that supports multi-factor authentication, user access permissions, segregation of duties, data encryption, vendor authentication, and detailed audit trails to reduce risk and improve compliance.
- Include white-glove support and ongoing vendor enablement. Prospective platforms should serve a golf club and its suppliers. Choose a partner that helps with vendor onboarding, provides live support, and ensures smooth adoption for all stakeholders.
- Help reduce costs and even generate rebates through virtual card payments. A solution that enables virtual card payments not only speeds up the payment process but can also create a new revenue stream for a club through rebates – turning AP into a value center.
Invoice-to-pay automation does all that and more. Purpose-built for clubs, leading solutions make it easy to modernize AP processes and empower finance teams to lead their club toward growth.
The Future of Club Finance Requires a New Kind of CFO
The message from the HFTP Club Summit in Myrtle Beach is clear: finance leaders at golf clubs must evolve. Leadership. Communication. Forecasting. Capital project oversight. Strategic planning. These are the skills club general managers and boards are looking for right now. CFOs who develop and demonstrate these skills are better equipped to help their clubs grow – whether by improving financial performance, leading successful capital improvements, or unlocking new revenue streams. But the path to this elevated role requires the right tools. Outdated, manual processes hold CFOs back and limit their ability to think and act strategically. With invoice-to-pay automation, club CFOs gain the efficiency, visibility, and control they need to thrive in this new era.
