Most of a store chain's money sits on its shelves as inventory, and the retail chief financial officer looks after it. The CFO approves the open-to-buy, values the stock correctly, plans cash and borrowing for the holiday build, and closes each month's books with a result for every location and the online store.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
We're looking for a Chief Financial Officer to manage our money and our inventory investment. In specialty retail most of the cash sits on the shelves, so you'll approve the open-to-buy, keep inventory valued correctly and plan cash around the holiday build. You'll close the books, run the budget and manage the bank relationship.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Close the books each month and deliver financial statements with results by store and for online.
Build the annual budget and reforecast it with the CEO and COO as sales come in.
Approve the open-to-buy plan with the Inventory Planner so purchases match expected sales and cash.
Keep inventory valued correctly: landed cost with freight, markdowns, shrink accruals and physical count results.
Manage cash flow, the line of credit and bank covenants through the seasonal inventory build and the holiday peak.
Oversee sales tax filings for every store location and for states where online sales create a filing obligation.
Review leases, payment processing fees and insurance renewals for cost and risk.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily sales, deposits and cash balances.
Approve large vendor payments and decide which invoices to pay early for a discount.
Review inventory and the open-to-buy with the Inventory Planner, and answer finance questions from buyers and stores.
Work on the month-end close, budget or forecast with the Bookkeeper.
Meet with lenders, the outside accountant or auditors as needed.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Monthly close completed on time: [your target].
Gross margin to plan: [your target].
Inventory turn: [your target].
Cash forecast accuracy: [your target].
Operating expenses to budget: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[8+] years of finance or accounting experience, including [3+] years leading finance for a retailer or consumer products company.
Strong knowledge of retail inventory accounting, including shrink, markdowns and the retail or cost method.
Experience managing a line of credit and reporting to a bank.
Advanced spreadsheet skills and experience with accounting and POS reporting systems.
Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance.
6. Preferred Experience
Active CPA license.
Experience with multi-state sales tax for online sales.
Has managed an asset-based loan backed by inventory.
Has built sales forecasts and payback analysis for new store sites.
7. Physical Requirements
Sit for long periods at a computer.
Visit stores and the warehouse during physical inventory counts.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at the central office[, with hybrid options].
Longer hours at month-end, year-end, physical inventory and budget season.
Occasional travel to stores and bank meetings.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new chief financial officer gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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In specialty retail, inventory is the biggest asset, the bank lends against it, and the holiday decides whether the year works. That puts the CFO closer to the merchandise than in most businesses.
Inventory value is the number that matters most
What the balance sheet shows depends on choices the CFO owns: what counts as cost, how markdowns and shrink are booked between counts, and whether you use the cost or the retail method. For tax, the IRS starts the cost of goods you buy at the invoice price less discounts, plus freight and other charges to bring them in. Miss one and margin looks better than it is until the count. Source: IRS Publication 538: Accounting periods and methods (inventories).
The bank may lend against your stock
Retailers often borrow against their inventory. The OCC's guide for bank examiners says these loans have long been sized from an appraiser's estimate of what the stock would bring in an orderly sale. Most banks want borrowing base reports daily or weekly, plus sales, purchase and markdown figures. Some lines add room for a short time while stock builds before the peak. The CFO keeps those reports right. Source: OCC Comptroller's Handbook: Asset-based lending.
Online orders can bring sales tax in new states
Each store collects tax where it stands. Online orders are different. In its 2018 Wayfair decision, the Supreme Court ended the old rule that a state could only make a seller collect its sales tax if the seller had a physical presence there. South Dakota's law in that case applied once a seller's sales or orders into the state passed a set level. The CFO tracks online sales by state and registers where needed. Source: South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (2018), Legal Information Institute.
Gift cards are money you still owe
An unused gift card is a debt on the company's books, not a sale yet. Federal rules say the funds can't expire sooner than five years after the card was issued or last loaded. An inactivity fee is allowed only after a year with no use, no more than once a month, with the terms printed on the card. Your state's law may set its own limits, so read it before printing new cards. Source: 12 CFR 1005.20: Gift card rules (Regulation E).
Owners want results store by store
A profit figure for the whole company doesn't tell owners which stores earn their rent. The CFO builds a profit and loss for every store and one for online sales, and has to decide how to split shared costs like the warehouse, marketing and online orders returned in a store. Those choices decide which stores look weak, so settle them with the CEO and COO and keep them steady.
How much retail chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for retail chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 4,190 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for retail stores.
Bonus measures that fit retail finance: gross margin after markdowns and shrink, inventory turn, and staying inside the bank's covenants. Pay the bonus after the year-end count, when the inventory number is real.
Retail stores
$129,980$129,980 median Middle half $84,770–$264,440 10th–90th $60,740–$412,110
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Retail stores
$60,740
$84,770
$129,980
$264,440
$412,110
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
These figures cover all retail. Pay differs by store type, so check what local stores like yours pay. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Retail inventory accounting: landed cost, markdowns, shrink accruals, and the cost or retail method
Has run a line of credit and kept the bank's trust through a weak season
Plans cash around the inventory build: when buys land, when vendor bills come due, when holiday cash comes in
Turns POS and inventory data into store results the CEO can act on
Will say no to a buy the cash can't support, and explain why
Teach these on the job
How returns, exchanges and gift card sales flow from the registers to the ledger
Where you file sales tax, and the filing calendar
Your vendors' payment terms and early-pay discounts
Your physical count process and timing
How your gift card and loyalty programs are set up
Sales post nightly from the POS into the general ledger, in accounting software such as NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics 365, while the open-to-buy and cash forecast often live in spreadsheets or planning software. Once online orders ship to many states, sales tax software such as Avalara saves the finance team from tracking rates by hand.
The blanks in the template are yours to fill. Start from last year's closes, margins and cash swings, and ask your lender what it watches.
Monthly close completed on time
Business days it takes after month-end for the CEO to receive final statements with store and online results. Note each late close and its cause, such as vendor bills that arrived late or a count adjustment.
Gross margin to plan
Sales minus cost of goods, with freight, markdowns and shrink included, against the margin in the budget. Review it by category with the buyers each month.
Inventory turn
Divide the last twelve months' cost of goods sold by the average inventory at cost over those months. Track it by category, since slow categories tie up cash and shrink the borrowing base.
Cash forecast accuracy
Each week's forecast cash balance against the actual balance. Watch it hardest in the months before the holiday, when buying and the credit line both peak.
Operating expenses to budget
Payroll, rent, marketing and other costs against the approved budget, by department and by store. Ask the owner of any line that runs over for a short note.
Career path
Planning analyst or inventory accountantBuilds sales and stock plans, or keeps the stock ledger and cost changes right.
Controller or head of planningOwns the close and inventory valuation, or the open-to-buy across categories.
Chief Financial OfficerFunds the plan, values the stock and manages the bank.
President or CEOMoves up to run this chain or another one, already knowing every store's numbers.
The template lists an active CPA license as preferred, not required. CPAs get their license from a state board of accountancy, under that state's rules. For this job, test what a license doesn't show: ask the candidate how they would book shrink between counts, or how a markdown changes inventory value under the retail method.
How much does a retail chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for retailers earned a median of $129,980 a year ($62.49 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $84,770 and $264,440 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What is an open-to-buy?
It's the budget for how much product the buyers can still order, by month and category. It starts from planned sales, planned markdowns and the stock you want on hand at month-end, minus what you already own or have on order. The Inventory Planner builds it, and the CFO approves it so purchases match cash and the bank line.
What does a retail CFO focus on after the holiday?
January is cleanup and reset. Holiday cash pays down the credit line, and leftover seasonal stock gets marked down or sent back where vendor terms allow. The CFO closes the year, sizes next year's line with the bank, and sets the spring open-to-buy with the Inventory Planner.
How often should a store chain count its inventory?
If you keep a running stock count in your system, IRS rules say to check it against real counts at reasonable intervals and fix it to match. One plan that works: count every store and the warehouse once a year when stock is low. In between, count high-theft items more often. Ask your lender and outside accountant what they expect before you set the date.
Can a retail CFO work hybrid?
The template leaves hybrid as an option. Plan for the CFO on site for month-end, the physical count and budget season, and for regular store and warehouse visits. Stock numbers make more sense to someone who has walked the stockroom and seen how receiving works.
