5 Essential Finance and Accounting Roles to Support Your CFO

To make sure that your chief financial officer (CFO) can focus on your organisation’s key initiatives, you must provide them with a team of qualified professional accountants who can do all the grunt behind-the-scenes tasks. Get started with these five (5) finance and accounting roles to support your CFO.

5 finance and accounting roles to support your CFO

The developments in finance and accounting have made the CFO more essential to other parts of the operations and administration departments.  

Together with the rest of the F&A department, the finance chief supports the whole company with updated data on their financial standing, budgetary requirements for projects, and internal controls that ensure that processes run at optimal levels. 

With all these roles, your CFO will need all the help they can get from qualified professional accountants.  

Here are the five essential finance and accounting roles to support your CFO. 

1. Management accountants

Certified management accountants (CMA) are one of the best additions to an accounting department. These multi-skilled professionals act as accountants, analysts, planners, strategists, and communicators under one label. 

In a day-to-day setting, CMAs can assist the finance chief in: 

• preparing financial statements and accounts, 

• monitoring the budgets and costs of projects, 

• forecasting the expenses and profits of the organisation, 

• initiating internal financial audits, and 

• providing sound business advice based on available financial and non-financial data.  

Aside from this, management accountants should also make recommendations to the CFO on how to reduce costs and help other managers make better business decisions. 

2. Financial controllers

Financial controllers are the CFO’s go-to people when making sure that the day-to-day processes in the finance and accounting department — and even in the operations — are running properly. They plan, implement, and monitor the internal controls that help the organisation prevent costly errors and process redundancies. 

Some of the key roles of financial controllers include: 

• preparation and review of key performance indicators (KPIs),  

• completion of financial and statutory reports,  

• monthly review of key products/service lines for efficiency 

• review of overhead expenses, and  

• implementation of cost-reduction strategies. 

By performing these roles, financial controllers assist the CFO in providing organisational support in different aspects of the business.  

RELATED: Controller vs Treasurer: Who Does Your Business Need

3. Financial Analysts

CFOs keep their eyes both on the internal processes of the organisation and the changes in the economy. This helps the CFO formulate plans to help the organisation take advantage of certain opportunities and prepare for fluctuations in the economy. 

In this regard, financial analysts keep their eyes on the macro and micro-economic levels and make recommendations to the CFO based on these trends. 

Aside from these recommendations, financial analysts are also in charge of: 

• conducting monthly consolidations,  

• analysing fluctuations revenues in expenses and revenues,  

• preparing quarterly operating reports,  

• assisting in the budget and re-forecast process, and  

• drafting of quarterly operating reports. 

4. Treasurers

Treasurers assist CFOs in protecting the organisation’s finance from possible risks and shortfalls. They’re considered outward movers who look after the future of the business – professionals who: 

• identify investment opportunities,  

• develop and maintain healthy relations with financial institutions and external creditors to raise working capital, 

• engage with key stakeholders and investors, 

• optimize credit facilities,  

• and minimise finance costs. 

Overall, the treasury function entails responsibility for meeting the organisation’s financial goals through transparency in corporate liquidity and investments. 

5. Administrative accountant

Administrative accountants are professionals who provide hands-on support for administrative-related accounting functions: 

• bookkeeping, 

• payroll, 

• record to report (R2R) processing, 

• order to cash (O2C) processing, 

• procedure to pay (P2P) processing, 

• tax preparation, and 

• budgeting and financial planning support.  

Finance chiefs can count on these professionals for the day-to-day transactions as the former focuses on high-priority projects. 

Read Next: A Comprehensive Guide to Outsourcing CFO Support Services  

In many ways, the CFO supports the company in performing its business. However, the CFO cannot deliver the expected outputs alone. Finding the right professional support is relevant to the CFO’s success. These people will contribute to your CFO’s work and help ensure that your organisation achieves its financial goals at every turn. 

Are you experiencing difficulty finding the right people to fill these five important CFO support roles? Download D&V Philippines’ Premium CFO Solutions today and learn how our world-class talents can add value to your CFO’s work! You may also talk to our team to discover if we’re the suitable service provider you’re looking for. 

This article was first published on 4 May 2019 and has been updated since then for relevancy and comprehensiveness.  

Last edited on 2 August 2024 

Edited by: Mary Milorrie Campos