What Is a Chief Financial Officer? A Look Into a CFO’s Role

The chief financial officer, or CFO, is the highest-level finance position in a company, responsible for the organization’s financial planning, risk management, recordkeeping, financial reports, and, often, data analysis. Also called the chief financial and operating officer (CFOO), the CFO’s primary goal is to help make decisions that increase revenue and ensure the company has a healthy cash flow and spends its capital well.

The CFO role is part of the “C-suite,” which refers to corporate executive positions with the word “chief” in their job title—others include the chief executive officer and the chief marketing officer.

In general, a chief financial officer will:

• Manage a company’s big-picture finances. The CFO’s primary responsibility is to manage an organization’s financial activities, including developing and adhering to a budget. If major financial decisions or initiatives arise, the CFO is responsible for being the regulatory agent, analyzing the risks, and helping the CEO make decisions.
• Build relationships with financers. CFOs are often responsible for finding additional funding sources and establishing connections with banks, investors, and other lenders to ensure the organization’s finances are secure and stable.
• Oversee financial departments. The CFO is responsible for a company’s financial performance, which means that they must oversee the operations of many finance-related business areas, including the accounting, auditing, budgeting, and compliance departments.
• Analyze financial data. The CFO must stay informed of the company’s financial information and what money-related decisions are on the horizon (called “forecasting”). To do this, the CFO serves as a financial analyst, collecting data and crunching numbers to create a budget, conduct a cost-benefit analysis, predict future financial decisions or hiccups, and mitigate financial risk.
• Collaborate with other C-suite positions. The CFO usually works very closely with different C-level positions in the company, including the chief executive officer (CEO), the chief information officer (CIO), the chief product officer (CPO), the chief operating officer (COO), and the chief marketing officer (CFO), to determine things like budget management, product pricing, and investment strategies.
• Keep records and financial statements. The CFO is responsible for ensuring the company adheres to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and follows all laws and regulations regarding financial reporting and disclosures.

A CFO is a high-level position, so most job descriptions have many high-level requirements:

• Education: Most CFO positions require that candidates have at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration, business development, finance, accounting, or a related field. However, more competitive organizations will look for candidates with additional education or an advanced degree, like an MBA degree, an additional business certification (like Certified Public Accountant or CPA), or other relevant master’s degrees or certifications.
• Experience: The role of the CFO comes with a lot of responsibility, so the chief financial officer job description usually requires candidates to have at least 10 years of experience in finance departments, an accounting career path, or related business environment, with at least five years in a finance leadership role. Potential employers will be especially interested in seeing the effects of the candidate’s financial efforts—for instance, if their accounting capabilities increased revenue or decreased costs.
• Technical skills: The CFO role needs to have a deep understanding of many different technical skill sets, including experience with accounting software, financial data analysis, other financial systems, and sales management technology.
• Communication and leadership skills: In addition to accounting abilities, good CFOs also need to have excellent communication skills, leadership skills, and interpersonal skills, so they can effectively guide their departments, keep morale high, and explain high-level accounting strategies.

The CFO and CEO of a company are closely related positions but differ in their focus. While the CFO (or chief financial officer) is in charge of the financial decision-making and budgeting, the CEO (or chief executive officer) oversees the entire business to ensure it stays on track and follows the brand’s central vision. Typically, the CEO is the highest position in the company (reporting only to the board of directors or stakeholders)—the CFO reports to the CEO.

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