Widely acknowledged finance expert and McKinsey alum, Tim Koller, astutely remarked, "The role of the CFO is immensely complex, strategic, and integral to a company's success in the modern economy." As businesses navigate the complexities of today's ever-changing economic climate, the Chief Financial Officer's (CFO) importance extends beyond the realms of financial reporting and analysis—they are now pivotal strategic decision-makers.
The Evolving Role of CFO
The role of the CFO has greatly transformed in this digitized, fast-paced business environment. More than just a financial overseer, the modern CFO wears various hats—strategic planner, risk manager, and even an innovation catalyst. According to a recent McKinsey Global Survey, around 88% of respondents declare the CFO's role has broadened over the past five years.
The CFO as a Strategic Planner
A fundamental shift in the CFO's role is the transition from being predominantly concerned with numbers and spreadsheets to a more Strategic Planning emphasis. CFOs are now expected to identify potential growth avenues and shape strategy development that aligns with the organization's overall mission and vision. Through their unique understanding of the company's financial health and market opportunities, they actively contribute to devising actionable steps in pursuit of the company's long-term objectives.
The CFO as Risk Manager
Beyond strategic planning, CFOs are now pivotal to effective Risk Management. In PwC's annual Global CEO Survey, about 70% of top business leaders believe that it’s harder to gain and keep trust in this digital, technologically advanced era. It is now incumbent on CFOs to keep investors' trust by providing detailed, up-to-date, and accurate financial reporting. Simultaneously, it involves ensuring regulatory compliance while identifying and mitigating potential financial, compliance, operational, and reputational risks.
The CFO as Innovation Catalyst
Finally, as an unexpected but much needed touchpoint of innovation, the CFO serves as an Innovation Catalyst. A report from Accenture emphasized how 85% of high-performing finance leaders believe that capturing ideas from all levels and successfully identifying and enabling strategic tech investments are crucial to success. CFOs actively engage in fostering a culture of innovation, which may encompass exploring and investing in FinTech, embracing digitization or Big Data, promoting value-creating initiatives, and financially empowering Innovation pursuits.
New Skill Sets for the Modern CFO
The transition from traditional duties to a more strategic role necessitates new skill sets. The modern CFO must be:
Analytical: As stewards of company data, CFOs must be adept at analyzing complex financial and operational data, yielding actionable insights.
Visionary: CFOs are required to have a long-term strategic viewpoint, envisioning the business's growth trajectory and proposing steps to get there.
Risk Savvy: CFOs must identify and assess possible risks and devise strategies to minimize their potential impact.
Digitally Literate: With the increasing role of technology in finance, understanding and leveraging digital tools for business growth becomes absolutely essential.
Communication Skillful: CFOs should communicate effectively with team members and stakeholders, bridging the gap between complex financial jargon and business acumen.
As the business landscape continues to evolve, so will the CFO's role. Outperforming their peers will require CFOs to go above and beyond traditional responsibilities, embracing their strategic, risk management, and innovation-focused responsibilities. With the right mindset and skill set, CFOs can significantly contribute to the overall performance, growth, and value creation of their organizations.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
"Flevy.com has proven to be an invaluable resource library to our Independent Management Consultancy, supporting and enabling us to better serve our enterprise clients.
The value derived from our [FlevyPro] subscription in terms of the business it has helped to gain far exceeds the investment made, making a subscription a no-brainer for any growing consultancy – or in-house strategy team."
– Dean Carlton, Chief Transformation Officer, Global Village Transformations Pty Ltd.
"As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value."
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
"Flevy is our 'go to' resource for management material, at an affordable cost. The Flevy library is comprehensive and the content deep, and typically provides a great foundation for us to further develop and tailor our own service offer."
– Chris McCann, Founder at Resilient.World
"[Flevy] produces some great work that has been/continues to be of immense help not only to myself, but as I seek to provide professional services to my clients, it give me a large "tool box" of resources that are critical to provide them with the quality of service and outcomes they are expecting."
– Royston Knowles, Executive with 50+ Years of Board Level Experience
"As an Independent Management Consultant, I find Flevy to add great value as a source of best practices, templates and information on new trends. Flevy has matured and the quality and quantity of the library is excellent. Lastly the price charged is reasonable, creating a win-win value for the customer, Flevy and the various authors. This is truly a service that benefits the consulting industry and associated clients. Thanks for providing this service. "
– Jim Schoen, Principal at FRC Group
"As a young consulting firm, requests for input from clients vary and it's sometimes impossible to provide expert solutions across a broad spectrum of requirements. That was before I discovered Flevy.com.
Through subscription to this invaluable site of a plethora of topics that are key and crucial to consulting, I have been able to exceed expectations and deliver quality advice and solutions to my clients. The quality and expertise of the authors are exemplary and gives me great confidence to use as part of my service offerings.
I highly recommend this company for any consultant wanting to apply international best practice standards in their service offerings. "
– Nishi Singh, Strategist and MD at NSP Consultants
"If you are looking for great resources to save time with your business presentations, Flevy is truly a value-added resource. Flevy has done all the work for you and we will continue to utilize Flevy as a source to extract up-to-date information and data for our virtual and onsite presentations!"
– Debbi Saffo, President at The NiKhar Group
"Flevy is now a part of my business routine. I visit Flevy at least 3 times each month.
Flevy has become my preferred learning source, because what it provides is practical, current, and useful in this era where the business world is being rewritten.
In today's environment where there are so many challenges and there is the need to make the right decisions in a short time, with so much scattered information, we are fortunate to have Flevy. Flevy investigates, selects, and puts at our disposal the best of the best to help us be successful in our work."
– Omar Hernán Montes Parra, CEO at Quantum SFE
SELECT CUSTOMERS
Since 2012, we have provided best practices to over 10,000 businesses and organizations of all sizes across the world—in over 130 countries.
Below is just a very small sample of our customer base.
Did you know?
The average daily rate of a McKinsey consultant is $6,625 (not including expenses). The average price of a Flevy document is $65.
Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S Strategy Model, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Experience Curve, and many more.
Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S Strategy Model, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Experience Curve, and many more.