The Essential CFO: A Corporate Finance Playbook

EVOLVING JOB DESCRIPTION

Not surprisingly, it wasn't too long before the era of the “Financial Engineer” CFO gave way to the “Trusted” CFO. Since then, we have seen a further evolution in CFO fashions from “Trusted” to “Super Accountant” to “Risk Manager” and, most recently, to “Strategic Partner” in the attributes that are most in demand by recruiters. As expressed by one recruiter, “With the accounting and controls side of the house now in order, a new CFO profile has emerged: a strategic, operationally oriented finance executive who can serve as the business partner to the CEO.”1

To a large extent, the evolution of the CFO position has been fueled by external events such as the Enron and other corporate scandals; the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation; the introduction of the Fair Disclosure rule; the advent of enterprise risk management; the proliferation of new accounting standards; and, most notably, the widespread fallout from the financial meltdown and credit crisis that exploded on the scene in 2008. Furthermore, companies have experienced new demands arising from enlivened regulatory authorities and from activist shareholders, including the escalating influence of hedge funds and private equity investors.