What skills does today’s CFO need to deliver value?
What skills does today’s CFO need to deliver value?
In recent times, few roles have changed as significantly as that of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As organisations become more accountable for their actions in society and demand for businesses to demonstrate and deliver value to the wider community grows, the responsibilities of the CFO are evolving.
To succeed in this fast-changing environment, today’s CFO needs to possess a diverse skill set. They must be a strong project manager, an effective change leader, a skilled communicator, and proficient in stakeholder management. Additionally, they should have a breadth of consulting skills that include influencing, conflict resolution and strategy development as well as strong financial acumen.
Our global research, conducted in partnership with ACCA, highlights the growing trend of CFOs being seen as Chief Value Officers (CVOs). The findings in our report “Chief Value Officer – The Important Evolution of the CFO” - reveals that finance leaders are increasingly being called upon to influence areas of value far removed from their traditional scope of financial performance and technical skills.
“This is a requirement that most CFOs are already starting to satisfy. It requires a deep understanding of their organisation and a comprehensive set of technical and interpersonal skills, as highlighted in their profile in ACCA’s Career Navigator, for example.”
While the core need for financial acumen remains, together with responsibility for the financial processes, performance management and external reporting, CFOs now need a deeper understanding of the business model coupled with a greater responsibility for value creation. This includes not only financial performance but also other aspects of value.
CFOs play a fundamental role in leading the transition to a more value centric, one view of performance. Managing this agile and evolving transformation is another essential skill for CFOs along with developing a network of external relationships to help create business value.
Running through all these aspects of the role is a moral and ethical core. A CFO from Southern Africa commented that it is: “interesting how the CFO is normally the one with the moral compass. That resonates with the term “value” and understanding the long-term consequences of the decisions that you take today: “doing the right thing”.
For current CFOs, the transition to CVO-type roles will require increased levels of continuous learning in areas such as sustainability, technology and data. Cultivating a broader range of skills is critical for aspiring CVOs and dependent on being given access to development opportunities.
These opportunities are likely to include partnering with other organisations and outsourcing to gain insight and analysis across various subject matters. Taking additional courses, participating in continuous learning programmes, handling crises, staying updated on technical accounting skills, finding mentors, gaining operational experience, and acquiring global experience are all vital for aspiring CVOs.
While CVOs will clearly need to have a broader skill set than their CFO forebearers, they should not try to be experts in every field. Instead, they should try and strike a balance between providing deep insight and analysis in specific areas, while having a wide-ranging knowledge of the business to leverage metrics and gain broader insights.
Smart CVOs will focus on the issues and areas that deliver the greatest value and outsourcing activities that the business is unable to resource – either because these require specific expertise, or by taking strategic decisions to support business objectives.
Within finance, for example, it now makes little sense for leaders to manage activities such as payroll or invoicing, which can be largely automated and outsourced to highly skilled teams.
Success as a CVO is not so much about what you know but who you know and building a network of connections. It will be increasingly hard for finance leaders to have detailed expertise across all the areas they are dealing with, so the ability to bring in specialists will be crucial.
To succeed in this fast-changing environment, today’s CFO needs to possess a diverse skill set. They must be a strong project manager, an effective change leader, a skilled communicator, and proficient in stakeholder management. Additionally, they should have a breadth of consulting skills that include influencing, conflict resolution and strategy development as well as strong financial acumen.
Our global research, conducted in partnership with ACCA, highlights the growing trend of CFOs being seen as Chief Value Officers (CVOs). The findings in our report “Chief Value Officer – The Important Evolution of the CFO” - reveals that finance leaders are increasingly being called upon to influence areas of value far removed from their traditional scope of financial performance and technical skills.
“This is a requirement that most CFOs are already starting to satisfy. It requires a deep understanding of their organisation and a comprehensive set of technical and interpersonal skills, as highlighted in their profile in ACCA’s Career Navigator, for example.”
While the core need for financial acumen remains, together with responsibility for the financial processes, performance management and external reporting, CFOs now need a deeper understanding of the business model coupled with a greater responsibility for value creation. This includes not only financial performance but also other aspects of value.
CFOs play a fundamental role in leading the transition to a more value centric, one view of performance. Managing this agile and evolving transformation is another essential skill for CFOs along with developing a network of external relationships to help create business value.
Running through all these aspects of the role is a moral and ethical core. A CFO from Southern Africa commented that it is: “interesting how the CFO is normally the one with the moral compass. That resonates with the term “value” and understanding the long-term consequences of the decisions that you take today: “doing the right thing”.
For current CFOs, the transition to CVO-type roles will require increased levels of continuous learning in areas such as sustainability, technology and data. Cultivating a broader range of skills is critical for aspiring CVOs and dependent on being given access to development opportunities.
These opportunities are likely to include partnering with other organisations and outsourcing to gain insight and analysis across various subject matters. Taking additional courses, participating in continuous learning programmes, handling crises, staying updated on technical accounting skills, finding mentors, gaining operational experience, and acquiring global experience are all vital for aspiring CVOs.
While CVOs will clearly need to have a broader skill set than their CFO forebearers, they should not try to be experts in every field. Instead, they should try and strike a balance between providing deep insight and analysis in specific areas, while having a wide-ranging knowledge of the business to leverage metrics and gain broader insights.
Smart CVOs will focus on the issues and areas that deliver the greatest value and outsourcing activities that the business is unable to resource – either because these require specific expertise, or by taking strategic decisions to support business objectives.
Within finance, for example, it now makes little sense for leaders to manage activities such as payroll or invoicing, which can be largely automated and outsourced to highly skilled teams.
Success as a CVO is not so much about what you know but who you know and building a network of connections. It will be increasingly hard for finance leaders to have detailed expertise across all the areas they are dealing with, so the ability to bring in specialists will be crucial.
How can we help?
Increasingly, successful finance leaders are rethinking their approach to the component parts of their function. Viewed through the lens of transformational change - and the need to support stakeholders, investors and leadership teams and deliver growth in new ways - how might the transformation of your finance function support the continued success of your business?
BDO’s Finance Function of the Future explores the opportunities and challenges faced by today's finance leaders, connecting these with approaches and solutions that will enable you to achieve your strategic direction.
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