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Finance decision maker survey sample

CFOs, controllers and finance leaders who actually own the ERP, treasury and FP&A decisions your client is asking about.

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Finance decision maker survey sample is CFOs, controllers, treasurers and FP&A leaders recruited for a quantitative survey. Typical US incidence is 12%, among the lowest of any common B2B audience, because genuine finance leaders are scarce and rarely join panels. Finance titles are unusually well documented in professional records, which makes verification more reliable here than almost anywhere else.

Feasibility

What is the feasibility for finance and accounting leaders in the United States?

Current numbers for a standard seniority screen at the default company size. Tighter screens move every figure, and we quote the exact read for your spec rather than asking you to work from these.

Reachable in the US
2,150
Incidence in broad supply
12%
Recommended interview length
15 min
Field window, 200 completes
7 days

What moves these numbers

Table comparing If you add this to the spec, Incidence moves and Field window
If you add this to the specIncidence movesField window
Require a named ERP in use12% to about 7%Add 3 days
Restrict to public companies12% to about 4%Add 5 days or more
Raise the company size floor to 500+ employees12% to about 8%Add 2 to 3 days
Widen to any finance or accounting role12% to about 28%Save 2 days
Reviewed quarterly. Reachable n counts our own panel plus the partner supply we would use for this audience, which is why it is larger than the panel on its own. Incidence is the expected screener yield against broad business supply, the basis a quote is built on, for the screener described here; a different screener gives a different rate, and targeting from a profiled panel does better than these figures. Field windows assume a study of 200 completes, a 10 to 15 minute interview and no industry quotas. Reachable n is the size of the qualified pool, not the number of invitations. Cost per complete is quoted per spec and holds through field.Get the CPI for your spec
Why it is hard

Why is finance and accounting leaders sample hard to get right?

Finance leaders are precise people, and they can tell when a survey was written by someone who does not know the difference between a controller and a bookkeeper. They are also among the least likely professionals to sit on consumer panels. Sample that claims 20% incidence for CFOs is almost always mid level accounting staff or people who selected the most senior option on offer. The good news is that finance titles are unusually well documented in professional records, which makes verification more reliable than for most B2B audiences.

Who qualifies

Who counts as finance and accounting leaders?

  • CFO
  • VP of Finance
  • Controller
  • Treasurer
  • Director of FP&A
  • Head of Accounting
  • Finance Director.

What company size and firmographics apply?

Default cut is 100 or more employees, because finance decision structures below that size look different. Cuts at 500+ and 1,000+ available. Revenue bands and public versus private on request.

What does the screener actually ask?

"Which of the following best describes your role in your organization's finance function?" with named title options rather than seniority levels. A follow up asks which systems or decisions they have final say over, for example ERP selection, banking relationships, audit firm, or headcount budgets.

How do you verify finance and accounting leaders?

Employment verified through corporate domain or third party professional record, with a title match against the record rather than self report. Category question about the close process or a system in use, for example which ERP or how many days the monthly close takes, reviewed for plausibility against the stated company size.

Read the full data quality process

What kinds of study can this audience support?

Online quant, buyer journey and vendor perception studies, pricing research for financial software and services, tracker waves, and finance leader recruitment for depth interviews.

Delivered by redirect into any hosted survey platform. We pass a respondent identifier and any quota variables on the way in, and test the links with you before launch.

Study types

What do clients usually run with this audience?

  • ERP, close management and FP&A software evaluation research
  • Banking, treasury and payments provider perception studies
  • Audit, tax and advisory firm brand research among the people who select them
  • Adoption and attitude research on AI in the finance function
  • Pricing research for financial software where the respondent has to own the budget
Illustrative

What does a typical project look like?

A US fintech tests pricing for a close management product among 200 finance leaders at companies with 100+ employees, 15 minute instrument. Incidence lands at 11%, slightly under the 12% quoted, and the price holds. Eight days in field. Twenty six completes fail the employment match or the close process question and are refielded.

An illustrative scenario built from typical figures for this audience, not a named client engagement. It will be replaced with a real case once one is cleared for use.

Questions

Finance and accounting leaders sample: frequently asked questions

Can you reach controllers as well as CFOs?

Yes, and the mix matters for incidence. Controllers and VP Finance are more reachable than CFOs, so a spec that accepts all three runs closer to 12% while CFO only runs nearer 5%. We quote each cut separately if you want to compare.

Do finance leaders finish longer surveys?

Less often than other B2B audiences. Fifteen minutes finishes reliably. Past twenty, drop off rises sharply and the respondents who do finish skew toward the less senior end of the pool, which is the opposite of what a finance study needs.

Why is finance decision maker sample more expensive than most B2B audiences?

Low incidence and low panel participation. Genuine finance leaders at companies with more than 100 employees are roughly 12% of a well targeted business sample, and they have little reason to join survey panels. Price is quoted per spec at feasibility and reflects the number of screener starts it takes to reach a verified complete.

How do you confirm someone is really a CFO or controller?

Title is matched against an employment record, not taken from the screener. Then a category question about their actual close process or finance systems is reviewed by a person for consistency with the company size they report. Mismatches are removed and replaced.

Can you reach finance leaders at public companies specifically?

Yes, at lower incidence and a longer field window. Public company status is confirmed against the named employer rather than self reported. This is quoted as hard to reach B2B.

What interview length works for this audience?

Fifteen minutes or less finishes reliably. Beyond 20 minutes, drop off rises sharply and CPI is adjusted to cover it. If the questionnaire is long, we will say so at feasibility rather than in the field report.

Do you offer procurement or purchasing leaders as well?

Yes. Head of Procurement, Purchasing Director and Sourcing Manager are available as a related audience with their own feasibility numbers.

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Audience, market, target n, expected interview length. Feasibility the same business day for standard audiences, with reachable counts, an estimated qualification rate we believe and a quoted cost per complete that stays fixed for the agreed brief.

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