A monthly department review is a two-way conversation. The CFO/controller pushes the department head on performance; the department head pushes back with context the financial data does not show. Knowing when to push and when to listen is the skill that separates a CFO who builds productive relationships from one who burns them out.
When to push
When to listen
The pattern that destroys reviews
Two failure modes. First: the CFO who pushes on every variance creates department heads who pre-emptively explain away every line item and stop bringing real problems forward. Second: the CFO who listens to everything without pushing creates department heads who treat reviews as therapy sessions and never deliver action items.
The middle ground requires judgment. Some weeks you push hard on three lines and listen on the others. Some weeks you listen on most and push on one. The discipline is to make the push-vs-listen call consciously, not by default, and to track over time whether the relationship is improving or degrading. A relationship that has improved over 6 months is a CFO who has calibrated; one that has degraded is a CFO who has either pushed too hard or not enough.