The chief financial officer (CFO) or chief financial and operating officer (CFOO) is a

corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer
is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher
management. In some sectors theCFO is also responsible for analysis of data. The title is equivalent
to finance director (FD), a common title in the United Kingdom. The CFO typically reports to
thechief executive officer and to the board of directors, and may additionally sit on the board. The
CFO supervises the finance unit and is the chief financial spokesperson for the organization. The
CFO reports directly to the president/chief executive officer (CEO) and directly assists the chief
operating officer (COO) on all strategic and tactical matters as they relate to budget management,
costbenefit analysis, forecasting needs and the securing of new funding.
Contents
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1Qualification
2Federal government of the United States
3Changing role
4See also
5References
6External links

Qualification[edit]
Most CFOs of large companies have finance qualifications such as a Master of Business
Administration, Master of Science, or come from an accounting background such as a Certified
Public Accountant. A finance department would usually contain some accountants with Certified
Public Accountant, Chartered Accountant,Certified Management Accountant, Chartered Certified
Accountant, or equivalent status such as master of finance.

Federal government of the United States[edit]

The federal government of the United States has incorporated more elements of business-sector
practices in its management approaches, including the use of the CFO position (alongside, for
example, an increased use of the chief information officer post, within public agencies).
The Chief Financial Officers Act, enacted in 1990, created a chief financial officer in each of 23
federal agencies. This was intended to improve the government's financial management and
develop standards of financial performance and disclosure. The Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) holds primary responsibility for financial management standardization and
improvement. Within OMB, the Deputy Director for Management, a position was established by the
CFO Act, is the chief official responsible for financial management.

The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) is specifically charged with overseeing
financial management matters, establishing financial management policies and requirements, and
monitoring the establishment and operation of federal financial management systems. OFFM is led
by a controller.
The CFO Act also established the CFO Council, chair by the OMB Deputy Director for Management
and including the CFOs and Deputy CFOs of 23 federal agencies, the OFFM controller, and the
Fiscal Assistant Secretary, the head of the Office of Fiscal Service of the Department of the
Treasury. Its mandate is to work collaboratively to improve financial management in the U.S.
government and "advise and coordinate the activities of the agencies of its members" in the areas of
financial management and accountability.
OMB Circular A-123 (issued 21 December 2004) defines the management responsibilities for
internal financial controls in federal agencies and addressed to all federal CFOs, CIOs and Program
Managers. The circular is a re-examination of the existing internal control requirements for federal
agencies and was initiated in light of the new internal control requirements for publicly traded
companies contained in the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002.
While significant progress in improving federal financial management has been made since the
federal government began preparing consolidated financial statements, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) reported that "major impediments continue to prevent [GAO] from
rendering an opinion."[1] In December 2006, the GAO announced that for the 10th consecutive year,
the GAO was prevented from expressing an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of the
government due to a number of material weaknesses related to financial systems, fundamental
recordkeeping, and financial reporting.
At the same time, in calendar year 2007, the CFOC announced that for the second consecutive
year, every major federal agency completed its Performance and Accountability Report just 45 days
after the end of the fiscal year (2006).

Changing role[edit]
In recent years, 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 a strategic partner and
advisor 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 companys
strategy.[2]However a 2016 survey of CFOs suggests that their new role has been overhyped 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.[3]

According to one source, "The CFO of tomorrow should be a big-picture thinker, rather than detailoriented, outspoken rather than reserved, prefer to delegate rather than be hands-on, emphasize
what gets done rather than how things are done, and make collaborative rather than unilateral
decisions. The CFO must serve as the financial authority in the organization, ensuring the integrity of
fiscal data and modeling transparency and accountability. The CFO is as much a part of governance
and oversight as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), playing a fundamental role in the development
and critique of strategic choices. The CFO is now expected to be a key player in stockholder
education[4] and communication and is clearly seen as a leader and team builder who sets the
financial agenda for the organization, supports the CEO directly and provides timely advice to the
board of directors."[5]
The uneven pace of recovery worldwide has made it more challenging for many companies. CFOs
are increasingly playing a more critical role in shaping their companys strategies today, especially in
light of the highly uncertain macroeconomic environments, where managing financial volatilities is
becoming a centerpiece for many companies' strategies, based on a survey held by Clariden
Global.[6] CFOs are increasingly being relied upon as the owners of business information, reporting
and financial data within organizations and assisting in decision support operations to enable the
company to operate more effectively and efficiently.
The duties of a modern CFO now straddle the traditional areas of financial stewardship and the more
progressive areas of strategic and business leadership with direct responsibility and oversight of
operations (which often includes procurement) expanding exponentially.[7] This significant role-based
transformation, which is well underway, is best-evidenced by the "CEO-in-Waiting" status that many
CFOs now hold. Additionally, many CFOs have made the realization that an operating environment
that values cash, profit margins, and risk mitigation is one that plays to the primary skills and
capabilities of a procurement organization, and become increasingly involved (directly via oversight
or indirectly through improved collaboration) with the procurement function according to a recent
research report that looks at the CFO's relationship with procurement.[8]

See also[edit]
Virtual CFO
Treasurer
Auditor general (disambiguation)
Comptroller

References[edit]
1.
2.

Jump up^ http://www.gao.gov/press/mediaadv12152006.pdf

Jump up^ "McKinsey on Finance. No. 27, Spring 2008". McKinsey. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Jump up^ "Future of the Finance Function Survey 2016". FSN Research. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
Jump up^ http://www.slideshare.net/MaureenOConnell/how-cfos-can-turn-stakeholders-into-allies-bymaureen-oconnell-40809275?related=1
Jump up^ "What Board expects from CFO". TopFinanceProfessionals. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
Jump up^ [1] Clariden Leadership Institute CFO Leadership Program: Changing Roles of CFO
Jump up^ "Why CFOs Need To Be Chief Future Officers".
Jump up^ [2] The CFO and the CPO: One World, Two Worldview