The New Roles and Responsibilities of Modern Company CFOs

Technology is transforming the finance and accounting (F&A) industry, and with it, the responsibilities and roles of a chief financial officer (CFO). CFOs have now become diverse leaders in their own respect while maintaining their traditional roles in F&A. CFOs are now expected to:

• Find and manage F&A talents effectively
• Update their F&A strategies with the latest trends and technologies
• Catch up with government regulations on finance and data protection
• Instigate a culture of collaboration between the finance department and the rest of the organization to ensure that projects and other activities are in line with the finance strategy and goals of the company.
• Continuously add value to the company using data-driven advice to the rest of the organization.

Source: Inside Magazine (Deloitte, 2018)

These additional roles require CFOs to adjust their outlook and acquire skills, especially those that deal with utilizing the latest F&A tools. Performing these tasks is increasingly becoming as important as the traditional roles of CFOs. With the increasing responsibilities, CFOs will need additional hands to work on the financial and accounting matters of their organization. In order to attend to these demands, a modern CFO must learn how to:

1. Find, manage, and retain talents

The war on talents has become more challenging each passing day. The top F&A firms have been aggressive in scouting and recruiting the most promising F&A professionals. As leaders of the F&A departments of their organization, CFOs have the responsibility of mentoring young professionals in their team to reach their full potential. Helping their own people not only improves the performance of their team but it also aids them in retaining and recruiting more talents.

2. Familiarize with the latest F&A tools

The F&A industry has been shifting toward digitalization and automation. The latest software and tools now include automation, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, and machine learning. These tools let F&A professionals produce more accurate outputs in real time. As the industry completes the technological shift, learning how to utilize these software and tools are becoming increasingly important for CFOs.

3. Utilize the power of data

Businesses now run on data. Every process, every important decision is now moving towards a data-driven approach. CFOs sit on mountains of data from audit, controls, transactions, and the overall F&A transactions of the organization. These data sets can help you pinpoint problem areas in your processes, address these issues, and lessen the risks along the way. With the right analytics tools and software, data can unlock the full potential of your organization.

To help CFOs catch-up with the latest F&A trends, D&V Philippines extends our CFO support services. This premium support service line is designed to help CFOs better perform their role in leading the F&A department and promote growth in all corners of the organization using the latest software and data analytics tools.