chief financial officer

The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances (financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financial reporting, and often the analysis of data. ) The CFO thus has ultimate authority over the finance unit and is the chief financial spokesperson for the organization. The CFO typically reports to the chief executive officer (CEO) and the board of directors and may additionally have a seat on the board. (In India, the CFO is by default one of the Key Managerial Personnel (KMPs) in case of listed entities, to be mentioned in the Annual Reports.) The CFO directly assists the chief operating officer (COO) on all business matters relating to budget management, cost–benefit analysis, forecasting needs, and securing of new funding. Some CFOs have the title CFOO for chief financial and operating officer. In the majority of countries, finance directors (FD) typically report into the CFO, and FD is the level before reaching CFO. Changing role The role of the CFO has evolved significantly. Traditionally being viewed as a financial gatekeeper, the role of the CFO has expanded and evolved to an advisor and a strategic partner to the CEO. In fact, in a report released by McKinsey, 88 percent of 164 CFOs surveyed reported that CEOs expect them to be more active participants in shaping the strategy of their organizations. Half of them also indicated that CEOs counted on them to challenge the company's strategy. As a result, the 1990s saw the rise of the strategic CFO, and more recently many companies have created a chief strategy officer (CSO) position. As a result, a 2016 survey of CFOs suggests that their new role has focused on financial reporting, with 52% of CFOs still finding themselves bogged down in the basics of traditional accounting practices such as transaction reporting and unable to make time for business partnering. The rise of digital technologies and a focus on data analytics to support decision making impacting almost every industry and organization will only add more pressure on CFOs to address this tension on finding the time to meet the expectations of their C-Suite colleagues.