On how you can show your value as CFO - As a Chief Financial Officer, you were hired because of your well rounded financial knowledge, management acumen and strong business sense. You have a college degree in finance or accounting…and probably an advanced diploma or certificate. As CFO you might also have very specific industry experience. You come into the role with leadership skills, not just in managing people and processes, but experience in making decisions that have shown positive results. Nice job!
Most CFO’s were hired for a certain reason. As we all know, businesses go through changes as they evolve. Some of us are hired to focus on maintenance; keeping pace with the business, basic management of the accounting processes and regular compliance tasks. Others have more of a strategic focus where they tend to foster change, influence future company direction and have a build, repair and divide emphasis. Others are more stewards where the concentration is protection, compliance, risk communication and shareholder value. With all CFOs, leadership and knowledge of the financial well-being of the company is still paramount, but it’s now trending for these leaders to have general management capabilities.
Whichever your focus, showing individual value is key to your success and the organization. So how do you show your value?
- Understand your whole organization. Accounting and finance processes are not your only specialty.
- Share new ideas and vision. You have more return-on-investment information at your fingertips then you know. Share what works and what does not.
- Know about financial risks in all departments. You are part watchdog.
- Share and report on historical trends in your organization, your industry and your competitors.
- Be able to prioritize tasks and spend.
Make it easy on yourself. Even with all the data, processes, departments, locations and people there is so much more to consider. In looking at all of these issues and responsibilities, there is one item that can expose your value easily…Technology.
Drive Process Improvement
Create truly global methods and give you real-time visibility of all investments!
Having a tool(s) that can give you the information you need when needed is not just a way to ‘share’ the goods, but a way to streamline and automate tasks. It can help you drive process improvement, create truly global methods and give you real-time visibility of all investments.
Your ‘value’ will shine because you will be able to provide faster information, your accounting procedures will be accurate and timely and you will be able to balance revenue with company growth.
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