The chief financial officer of CUA, Tony Taylor, will walk away from the organisation on 27 November, four years after moving from Bankwest to take the CFO role. Taylor announced his decision to leave CUA in an emotional speech at yesterday's Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting Excellence Awards for 2015, delivered as he collected the award for CFO of the Year in front of an audience of senior accountants and corporate advisers from mid-tier firms.Half the audience thought he was joking, having just recognised him for his work in transforming an inefficient operation into a modern "fit for purpose" outfit, ready to take on larger rivals.However, Taylor made it clear the role, which involves commuting from his home in Sydney to CUA's head office in Brisbane week after week, had taken its toll."Three weeks ago I came to the conclusion I'd been commuting for four years to Brisbane, and been away from my wife and family for long enough, so I resigned," he said. "I wish I'd told my wife before I made that decision, and then I had to tell my team, which was the hardest thing I've ever done," he said.Speaking to Banking Day after collecting the award, Taylor said he felt his job was done in terms of revamping the finance function at Australian's largest credit union. "I'm particularly good at transformation, but tend to get a bit bored when it's BAU [business as usual]," Taylor said."We've now got a fit for purpose finance team, and it's time to come home," he said.His role takes in oversight of company secretary, legal, general counsel, corporate services, property, finance and treasury - in total 45 FTE (full-time equivalent) staff - and within that group, the finance team itself numbers about 30.In plainer terms, this translated to cutting staff - for instance, the accounts payable team has been reduced from four to one. On the other side of the equation, since taking over, Taylor has worked hard to introduce "best-of-breed" procurement processes. Making it clear his job wasn't merely slicing costs by moving staff out, Taylor said: "Never compromise on the quality of the people you hire. The right choices, even if salary ranges are over budget, will bring that back 10-fold in value."Taylor's last day at CUA is 27 November, and he said CUA's CEO and chairman were actively seeking a new finance chief.