Vital Role Of CFO — David John Ellery
In recent times, the role of CFO has undergone a lot of changes. Even a few years before, his duties and responsibilities were somewhat restricted to preparation and analysis of financial statements. However, in today’s world, most of accounting jobs are not being done manually. The entire accounting system has become computerized, and so the responsibilities of chief financial officer have been curtailed to a significant extent. If you look at the profile of a CFO, you will see that his functions can be classified into the following categories.
Determining strategies
In the traditional role, the success of chief financial officer depended a lot on his capability of accurate reporting of numbers, monitoring the financial scenario of enterprise and taking decisions on the major monetary matters. However in the competitive world of today, just producing financial information and generating reports is not adequate. In the modern world, it is expected that they should be instrumental in attaining the business goals by displaying not only their business acumen but also they should implement critical thinking skills to evolve as management innovators.
Leadership qualities
Chief financial officers should be more receptive to changes and establish challenging goals for the organization. The company will benefit from having such dynamic leaders compared to strict, regimented corporate executive who could ultimately have a detrimental effect on the growth of business. Just as mentioned before, the role of chief financial officer in modern times has changed drastically. It is no longer adequate for him to just review the efforts of other employees. In today’s world, the corporate executive plays a major role in providing leadership to senior members of the management. That includes chief executive officers. They may be compelled under the circumstances to make some tough decisions. These tough calls cannot be made by others in the organization. Effective decision making may pave the way for success or failure of the team.
Team leader
The CFO has to assess the strengths of employees of the organization. He plays a pivotal role as a team leader so that results of highest order can be obtained which could otherwise have been impossible to achieve had the individuals performed on their own. Bringing together and coordinating the efforts of a diverse group of persons to get desirable results is an important function of executive.
Relationship building with third parties
The CFO will have to act diplomatically while interacting with third parties. Projecting the financial picture of company rests heavily on the shoulders of CFO. People who are dealing with the enterprise from outside look up to the senior team of members and they rely on them heavily for the performance of company in the right direction. So the third parties depend on the CFO regarding the monetary solvency of enterprise.
Various roles
In a summary form, it can be said that the role of modern day CFO is not only quite complex, but it is fluid too. Just like CFO — David John Ellery you have to be working in a multitasking capacity along with proper execution of financial responsibilities.
About the Author:
The writer is an expert in the field of Financial Controller with focus on John Ellery
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