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HOW TO SAY NO, GRACEFULLY
CFO assessing a request for non revenue generating travel activities.
The Office of the CFO has been called a lot of things. But “The Yes Factory” isn’t one of them.
I’ve been called a lot of names over the years, none of them flattering:
The CF-No
The No Patrol (for the parents out there still stuck on Paw Patrol reruns)
Lord of the Declines
Dr. No
Veto Corleone (my personal favorite)
"Keep your friends close, but your budget to actuals closer."
And here’s the irony: I actually suck at saying no.
My default setting is to want to help. Especially when trust has been established and I fear saying no will crater that. Like many CFOs, behind our course exterior, we are people pleasers at heart.
But the job requires you to drive the bus, and often you have to tell people we arne’t going to drive off the bridge.
“‘One more surprise Azure overage and I swear I’m canceling the internet.’”
I’ve had to learn to say “no” in ways that don’t wreck morale, or the momentum, of the people around me. Over the last two plus years I’ve asked some of the smartest operators I know, distinguished guests on Run the Numbers, how they walk the walk.
What follows is the CF-No playbook: real-world scripts, mindset shifts, and subtle reframes that help you say no without sounding like an a**hole.
#1. Rescope, Don’t Reject
from Justin Columbe, CFO of Miro
Most of us learn to say no early in our careers by hiding behind the budget:
“It’s not in the plan. Sorry.”
End of conversation.
Justin takes a different approach. When someone comes to him with an idea—be it a headcount request, a new tool, or a big campaign—he doesn’t start with no. He starts with:
“What are you optimizing for?”
That question changes the dynamic. Instead of defending your position, you’re exploring theirs.
Often, you’ll find that you share the same ultimate goal, just with different ideas of how to get there. Once you align on the outcome, you can talk about sequencing, scale, or timing. This repositions the conversation away from “no” and towards “how can we?”
For example:
Maybe the idea is sound, but the spend is too high for right now → rescope it from an annual campaign to a quarterly commitment.
Maybe the timing is off → yes, but gated based on when we accomplish [xyz milestone].
Maybe the ROI is unproven → require a small test before full funding, and scale back something else existing.
How to apply it:
Ask “What are we optimizing for?” before you even start evaluating the request.
Align on principles and goals.
Explore “yes, but…” options: smaller scope, later timing, or phased rollout.
Keep the door open for future discussion; schedule a revisit date.
Takeaway:
Understanding what people are trying to solve for is ultimately more important than knowing what resources they are asking for.
#2. Butter, Then the Knife
from Sinohe Terrero, CFO of Envoy
Sinohe’s approach to saying no is deceptively simple:
“You’ve gotta butter people up before you need to poke them.”
When he takes over a new function, he doesn’t start by slashing budgets or overhauling processes. He starts by looking for quick wins: the low-cost, high-impact actions that make life easier for his partners.
That could mean:
Finally approving a software license the team’s been waiting on.
Making an exception to an expense policy.
Helping fast-track a contract stuck in procurement.
These early wins build trust fast. And trust buys you something priceless: the ability to say no later without triggering defensiveness.
You want people to remember the times you helped them before you have to constrain them.
And the finance team has an unfair advantage - the power of the purse.
The CFO finds the money, and the CEO and CPO spend it on note taking apps.
It’s very likely there’s a $5,000 dollar problem causing a $50,000 drag on a team’s productivity. Pretty neat that you can literally throw a few dollars at a problem, making them both more productive and more understanding the next time you come around.
How to apply it:
Action: In your first month, unblock 2–3 quick wins for each major stakeholder.
Visibility: Make your help visible; call it out when you’ve moved something forward.
Reminder: When you say no later, remind them of the partnership you’ve built: “You know I want to help us win… here’s why this isn’t the best move right now.”
Takeaway:
Make early deposits in the trust bank. Then you can draw on that balance when you have to say no.
#3. Read the Market
from Michael Bayer, CFO of Wasabi
Early in his career, Michael Bayer earned a nickname he wasn’t exactly proud of:
“The CF-No. Because I just said no to everything that came my way.”
Every request was met with a hard stop.
New tool? No.
More headcount? No.
Swag budget? Go back to bed.
But something shifted as he moved into high-growth companies. Saying no wasn’t the hard part anymore; saying yes strategically became the real job.
“In hypergrowth, it’s not about what you stop,” Michael told me. “It’s about what you greenlight that actually moves the business.”
He now sees himself less as a gatekeeper and more as a business enabler. In fact, he renamed Wasabi’s G&A org to “Business Enablement”—a subtle but powerful reframing. His job is to help others move faster and more confidently, not slow them down with bureaucracy.
The catch? Being CF-Go doesn’t mean saying yes to everything. It means making sure that when you do say yes, you're backing the right bet with the company’s scarce capital.
It also means understanding when the market flips. In 2021, growth was king. In 2023? The weather changed. The best CFOs toggle between CF-Go and CF-No, depending on what the market (and the business) needs. And it’s their job to explain the macro context behind the no.
How to apply it:
Know what phase you're in. Is this a season to fuel growth? Or protect margin? Calibrate accordingly.
Rename your mindset. Like Michael did with "Business Enablement," reframe finance’s role as a growth partner, not just a cost cop.
Say no through prioritization. You’re not blocking ideas; you’re reallocating capital to the highest ROI opportunities.
Use the Rule of 40 (or more) as a directional compass. Should your value come from growth or margin right now?
Takeaway:
The best CFOs don’t default to No. They default to why now, why this, and at what cost? And then they explain it to people like they are adults.
#4. The One-Page Rule
from Daniel Lentz, CFO of Commerce (formerly BigCommerce)
Daniel’s test for requests is simple:
“If you can’t explain it on one page, maybe you don’t understand it.”
It’s not about being difficult; it’s about forcing clarity. If someone can’t clearly articulate value, cost, and tradeoffs in a single page, odds are the idea isn’t ready for investment.
It also gives you a graceful out. You’re not rejecting the idea outright; you’re asking for a more thoughtful proposal (ideally until it gets to a position where it meets company requirements for a yes).
How to apply it:
Paper It: Require one-pagers for any budget, headcount, or major resource ask.
The one-pager should include: objective, cost, expected ROI, risks, and what happens if we don’t do it.
Assess: If they can’t deliver it, the conversation pauses until they can.
Apply the rule evenly—C-suite included.
Takeaway:
“No” can mean “Come back when you’ve sharpened the case.”
(BONUS! Saying no to personal requests that CFOs often get due to their experiences)
#5: Filter the Yeses
from Dr. Julie Gurner, executive performance coach
Dr. Julie Gurner said something on the podcast that stopped me cold:
“On your way up, you pray for opportunities. Once you get good, you drown in them.”
That’s the trap. The better you get, the more inbound you get. Coffee chats. Advisory gigs. Side projects. New initiatives. Board seats. Panel invites. “Quick asks.” It’s all flattering. And it’s all a drain, if you say yes without a filter.
The most disciplined operators Julie works with use a mental filter to evaluate opportunities before they commit. It’s like a firewall for your time and attention.
The filter might be based on:
Does this align with my top three goals this quarter?
Is this the highest and best use of my time?
Will this materially improve the business or my life?
Am I doing this out of ego or obligation?
If it doesn’t pass, it’s a no. Even if it’s interesting. Even if it pays. Even if someone you respect asked for it.
And for the people pleasers (hello, mirror), Julie offers a gut check:
“If you feel a twinge of dread when it hits your calendar, that’s your answer.”
The real cost of saying yes to the wrong things isn’t just time. It’s energy. Focus. Emotional bandwidth. And eventually, resentment. That creeping “why did I agree to this?” feeling.
How to apply it:
Define your personal filter. Write it down. Literally. What are your top 2–3 goals this quarter? If an ask doesn’t move one of them forward, it’s out.
Use a delay buffer. Don’t say yes in the moment. Give yourself 24 hours to think. You’ll almost always make a better decision.
Have a default “no” script. Julie recommends something like:
“I appreciate you reaching out. Right now my bandwidth is maxed, and I wouldn’t be able to give this the attention it deserves.”
Bonus: refer them to someone else if you can—it softens the blow and keeps the relationship warm.Watch for the resentment test. If you keep looking at a calendar block and silently screaming, “Why did I agree to this?”, you’ve ignored your filter. Learn from that.
Takeaway:
A yes feels good in the moment. A filtered no feels better in the long run.
Looking for Leverage Newsletter
YOUR GUIDE TO ROLL UPS: MULTIPLE ARBITRAGE IN ACTION
The core idea behind a roll-up strategy is straightforward: buy smaller companies at lower EBITDA multiples, integrate them into a larger platform, and increase the enterprise value by applying a higher multiple to the combined business.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s a math exercise, supported by real operational leverage.
And private equity companies love it because it typically has less technical risk than a venture capital investment, where you’re betting on what something can hopefully become if you can actually build it.
The logic goes like this:
Smaller businesses typically trade at 4–6x EBITDA.
A scaled platform might trade at 8–12x.
If you can bolt on EBITDA at the low end, and eventually exit at the high end, the spread between those multiples becomes your return engine.
But to make that spread real, not just modeled, you need three things to break in your favor:
Cost efficiencies that expand margin
Increased debt capacity that reduces your equity basis
A better exit multiple that rewards scale
We’ll break each of those down, and then highlight what happens when any of them move against you.
Run the Numbers Podcast
A convo with Sandeep Aujla, CFO of INTUIT
How do you keep innovating and disrupting when you’re already the incumbent? And how do you prevent a $200B+ company from becoming slow and complacent?
In this episode, I’m joined by Sandeep Aujla, CFO of Intuit, who shares how one of the world’s largest software companies continues to operate with the agility of a startup. With QuickBooks, TurboTax, Credit Karma, and MailChimp all falling in the Intuit family tree, serving both consumers and businesses, Sandeep breaks down the company’s platform strategy, explains how he tells a unified story across these product lines, and describes how he prioritizes capital allocation.
He also talks about:
Intuit’s efforts to leverage AI to improve internal efficiencies
Insights into the ideal CFO-CTO relationship
Tactics for saying no
The benefits of letting stuff break, and
How finance helped uncover a major growth opportunity for Intuit in the mid-market.
For those of you who know me, I think it’s cool to be a fan of business. And this was like having the Tom Brady of CFOs on the pod. LFG!!!!
Quote I’ve Been Pondering
ON REPUTATIONS
“My son, I am very disappointed in you,” he said. “I never hear anything wrong said about you. You have proven yourself incapable of generating envy.”
Wishing you fat gross margins,
CJ
