Toast’s CFO and president Elena Gomez got her start in finance at age 5, with the help of her grandfather

Good morning. Today is the fourth anniversary of Fortune's CFO Daily newsletter. Since March 28, 2021, I've spoken with hundreds of CFOs and industry experts. Covering the realm of corporate finance continues to be fascinating as the role of the CFO becomes even more dynamic. I'm grateful for this opportunity and for your readership over the years. And I hope you can take a moment to share this newsletter with someone else who might find it valuable; they can sign up here.

I’m excited to continue CFO Daily's journey by sharing my conversation with Elena Gomez, president and CFO at Toast. Let’s dive in.

“I’m really proud and I definitely called my mom when I found out.”

That’s what Elena Gomez, the finance chief of Toast, told me of her reaction when the tech company recently appointed her as president at the tech company, in addition to wearing her CFO hat. Gomez first joined Toast, a $20.5 billion market cap tech company that provides a restaurant and retail point of sale and digital payment platform, in 2021. Over the course of a broad 30-year career, she has also been the CFO of Zendesk and held finance leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, including Salesforce, Visa, and Charles Schwab.

But it was Gomez’s family, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador, that established her foundation in finance and accounting. Gomez’s father was a truck driver, her mother a bookkeeper, who both worked hard and very long hours. So, her grandfather, an accountant, took care of her while her parents worked.

“As a very young kid, I spent all this time with him, and he would have me count his money when I was five years old,” Gomez said. “I will never forget that.” His continual teachings about debits and credits would help direct her path. “I realized very quickly that I loved how businesses worked,” said the University of California at Berkeley grad. “The exciting part was, how does a business make money? How do you grow a business?”

And now Gomez’s current career trajectory as a modern CFO shows how that role continues to evolve, making finance chiefs desirable candidates for broader positions. 

“Being a president alongside my CFO role, I think is a testament to the fact that I'm not just the CFO but really a broader business thinker and a partner to our CEO to help build what we believe is a generational company,” Gomez said. “In many ways, it was a recognition of what we've done together as a team over the last four years and what we need to do as a business over the next decade.”

Companies are tapping into the talents of finance chiefs, with CFOs increasingly becoming presidents, according to research by Russell Reynolds Associates. Financial stewardship remains under a finance chief’s purview. However, modern CFOs are deeply involved in shaping corporate strategy. 

Positioning the company for growth

Gomez and Aman Narang, CEO and cofounder at Toast, are working together toward continual growth of the company that went public in 2021. When you make a purchase at a restaurant, there’s a good chance you're using Toast technology.  

In 2024, the company added a record 28,000 new restaurant locations using its services, ending the year with approximately 134,000 locations. In Q4 2024, the three months that ended Dec. 31, Toast’s annualized recurring run-rate increased 34% year over year to over $1.6 billion. In 2024, Toast achieved its first year of GAAP profitability. And in Q4, revenue grew 29% to $1.34 billion. 

Asked to explain Toast's impressive growth, Gomez cited “a maniacal focus we have in the company on executing every day." She added that having a thoughtful, long-range plan for growth in a very disciplined and balanced way also helped, and that the the company has also been leaning into AI. “And then you layer on some of our newer opportunities in international retail, and that gives us a lot of confidence that this business has plenty of growth levers over the long term."

Understanding the customer

Another sign of a modern CFO is the exec doesn’t just sit behind a computer in an office. Finance chiefs traditionally didn’t communicate with customers. 

“I'm passionate about making sure I'm very close to the customer,” said. For example, a few weeks ago, Gomez accompanied a sales rep to meet with customers in San Francisco, she explained. Earlier this month she just hosted the “Toast on Tour” event there as well. 

The event that takes place in several cities is designed to bring local restaurant communities together to talk with their peers and Toast, Gomez explained. “For us, it's really great because we're right in the center of the conversation,” she said. “We have this opportunity to not only get this feedback from them but also showcase some of our new innovation.”

She added, "In fact, I want to spend more of my time with customers because it will make me a better CFO."

That's reflective of Gomez’s intellectual curiosity, which started with lessons from her grandfather, and ultimately led to the C-suite.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com