PocketSmith’s first white paper reveals how Australian "household CFOs" are using open banking to take control

New research from personal financial management company PocketSmith spotlights Australia’s “household CFOs” and their challenges in getting the financial chores done. 

It finds Australians are tackling a range of problems such as multiple accounts, data inconsistency, time constraints, lack of financial literacy, and cognitive overload. 

“Household CFOs are just as crucial to financial success as their corporate counterparts. Yet, while companies have powerful tools at their disposal, households can be stuck with outdated methods, like manually pulling data from fragmented sources, cleaning it up, and then wrestling with cumbersome spreadsheets or messy paper notebooks,” said Jason Leong, Co-founder and CEO of PocketSmith. 

“It’s a time-consuming, manual grind that not only wastes effort, but also falls short on the essentials like automation, forecasting, and real-time insights,” he added. 

Happily, the white paper also reveals how open banking can take the chore out of managing the family finances. 

The household CFO wears many hats

Many Australians - including PocketSmith’s 65,000 regular local users - are turning to PFM apps as powerful financial tools. 

PocketSmith identifies the "household CFO" as the family member who takes charge of managing the household's finances.

This role involves balancing budgets, setting financial goals, and making crucial money decisions. Household CFOs wear many hats, including planner, strategist, and problem-solver. Their contributions are indispensable to the family’s overall financial wellbeing, even if they may go unnoticed in the moment. 

“Household CFOs are often reacting to external events, whether it’s the recent interest rate cut or the kids wanting to take up soccer or ballet,” Leong said. 

“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to managing family finances," he continued. "At PocketSmith, we’ve seen household CFOs take different forms—many are budget planners, some are digital nomads, while others are investors.”

According to the research, budget planners closely track daily income and expenses, focusing on financial stability, debt repayment, or achieving goals like financial independence and early retirement. They often involve the entire household in maintaining commitment to shared financial objectives.

Digital nomads manage their finances across multiple countries with geo-arbitrage, by earning income in stronger currencies while living in regions with lower costs. They balance practicality with a desire for freedom and personal fulfilment.

Investors prioritise wealth creation through multiple income streams from employment and investments. Investors track key metrics like net worth instead of detailed budgeting. They value time-saving tools and services for efficient financial management.

Meet Nick Worthington, a “household CFO” turning open data into smart decisions

Nick Worthington is a 40-year-old married father from regional Victoria, who works in financial services. His wife, also 40 years old, works in consulting. 

The Worthingtons aim for an equal relationship, balancing the care of their 5-year-old son and golden retriever, as well as managing a mortgage, superannuation, and other investments. He's the household CFO, while she's the home chef. 

Worthington enjoys managing his family’s finances, although he acknowledges it can sometimes be stressful, as he gets too much "in the weeds." 

Using PocketSmith helps to bring him back on track. 

He says the consent process for open banking data sharing is “very straightforward.” 

He is grateful not to spend ages logging into different portals for information from multiple bank accounts, credit cards, and superannuation, then input the data manually into a spreadsheet.

The app brings transparency to conversations with the family’s professional financial advisor and he appreciates the psychological comfort of knowing his family has a financial safety net. 

"It eases the guilt of spending," he said. "PocketSmith really makes it easy to identify expenses that don't align with the goals and values of your family. There is no hiding from things that are a complete waste of money."

PocketSmith has helped the Worthingtons to simplify tracking net worth and planning for financial goals like school fees and investment portfolios.

“The beauty of a platform like PocketSmith is that you spend the time setting it up, so that it then runs on autopilot. Manual spreadsheets and guesstimations are a thing of the past.”

Different paths, same destination

According to Leong, a unifying angle that connects all household CFOs is the shared goal of achieving financial security, but through different methods and priorities. 

“Every household takes its own path, shaped by its needs and money mindset. But the destination is the same; it’s financial wellbeing,” Leong said.

As the peak advocacy body for fintech in Australia, FinTech Australia is a long-standing advocate for open banking under the Consumer Data Right regime, which is also live in open energy, and from 2026 will extend to open finance via non-bank lending.

 “What stands out for me in this white paper is the transformative potential of open banking to enable instant aggregation of financial information in different formats from various sources into one single, cohesive platform that delivers real-time updates and insights beyond basic budgeting,” Rehan D’Almeida, CEO of FinTech Australia said.

“Fintechs, such as PocketSmith, can democratise access to financial forecasting, scenario planning and wealth insights, so households can identify opportunities to build up savings, reduce debt and invest wisely,” D’Almeida added.

Entitled “The Rise of the Household CFO: How open banking is guiding Australians to financial clarity and control,” PocketSmith’s 27-page white paper is available to download here. The PocketSmith app offers powerful forecasting, flexible planning, and real-time insights to help manage finances efficiently.