What is the main job that the CFO has?
The main job responsibilities that the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is to improve the financial performance of the company which includes reports, liquidity, and the return of investment. This guide will address the question “What is the job of a CFO?”
In a business they fall under departments that are typically referred to as the controller’s group, the treasury department, as well as the financial plan and analysis (FP&A).
What does a CFO do?
We have mentioned above that the work of the CFO can be divided into three major categories. These are further broken down in detail below . We will attempt to clarify for you “What is the job of a CFO?”.
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1. Reporting
Reporting consumes a significant amount of the time of a CFO, and is typically within the Controller’s department. This group of professionals creates all the historical financial reports that are required by employees, shareholders as well as lenders, government agencies, research analysts and other regulatory agencies. The team is responsible for making sure that the reports are prepared accurately and in a promptly.
2. Liquidity
The CFO must ensure that the business is able to fulfill its financial obligations and control cash flow in the most efficient manner. The responsibilities of the CFO are typically handled by the treasury department that is usually lower than reporting teams. The group is charged with the management of the company’s cash balance as well as working capital such as account receivable, payables and inventory. They also manage the issuing of debts or investments, as well as manage other decisions related to liquidity.
3. Return on Investment
The third thing that a CFO can do is to help the business the best possible risk-adjusted return for capital assets and returns of capital (or return on equity). The financial analysis and planning FP&A team is there to assist the CFO determine the future cash flow for the business and compare the actual performance against the numbers that were budgeted. This FP&A team plays a crucial role in analytics and in decision making within the company.
If the business includes a development group They also contribute significantly to making (or trying to create) the best investment returns for the company.
What else does the CFO do?
The above certainly isn’t the only thing a CFO has to do. It’s really quite a lot of work for a CFO and there are many other tasks that require leadership, communicating to the Board, negotiations with vendors and suppliers, as well as assisting in the pursuit of the vision, mission and values.
Other departments that be under the supervision of the CFO include procurement, supply chain IT, procurement (IT) and virtually every other department, contingent on the company and the expertise that is the CFO.