A chief financial officer (CFO) is the highest-ranking financial professional in an organization and is responsible for the fiscal health of the business. The CFO’s responsibilities include, but aren’t limited to, building a top-notch finance and accounting team, ensuring revenues and expenses stay in balance, overseeing FP&A (financial planning & analysis) functions, making recommendations on mergers and acquisitions, obtaining funding, working with department heads to analyze financial data and craft budgets, attesting to the accuracy of reports and consulting with boards of directors and the CEO on strategy.
CFOs may also help set technology direction, especially fintech, and make recommendations on everything from supply chain to marketing based on their fiscal insights and industry knowledge.
The most-valued CFOs are visionaries — they have an eye toward the future, work closely with top leadership and aren’t shy about recommending strategic moves.
Big public companies may have defined the CFO role, but the chief financial officer position is becoming increasingly common in midsize and even small firms. Recent postings for full-time CFOs on job-search sites include an emerging air mobility design and manufacturing company in Massachusetts with fewer than 20 employees and a 94-bed community hospital in Hawaii.
What’s driving that investment in expertise? Often, CEOs who are at a strategic crossroads and recognize the value of an expert financial adviser who can help them grow market share, and their businesses.
In short, smart companies now view the CFO position — both internal and on a virtual or fractional CFO basis — as more of an investment than an expense.