PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP provides an article on the New Role of the CFO.
"Awaken the Valley Within." In an interview in the September 2000 issue of CFO Magazine, strategy guru Gary Hamel says that CFOs must learn how to foster innovation, and Silicon Valley provides the model.
In June 1998, FEI partnered with Heidrick & Struggles to explore the CEO's perspective of CFO. They did a survey of Fortune 1000 CEOs and got a 17% response rate. The results of the survey, "CFOs: Strategic Business Partners," is available on Heidrick & Struggles Web site, at the bottom of this page.
The Buttonwood Group LLP is a research and consulting firm specializing in performance measurement and organizational effectiveness, two key responsibilities of the CFO.
The Research Foundation identified 5 key functions of today's CFO as follows:
- Strategic Planning-The CFO should take a lead role in a company's strategic planning process, or at least have a seat at the table. Refer to the Section in the Knowledge Center called "Budgeting and Planning."
- Partnerships and Joint Ventures-Refer to the section in the Knowledge Center called "Financial Mangement-Strategic Alliances."
- Corporate Governance-Refer to the section in the Knowledge Center called "Corporate Governance and Ethics."
- Managing Cash-"Managing Cash in a Capital Drought" is an article from the September 2002 issue of Financial Executive Magazine.
- Benchmarking-Refer to the section in the Knowledge Center called "Benchmarking."
FEI Research Foundation Products available for this topic are:
For useful information on defining the role of the Controller, authors Janice M. Roehl-Anderson and Steven M. Bragg wrote a book titled "The Controller's Function: The Work of the Managerial Accountant" 2nd Edition from September 2000. The cost of the book is $65, but if you visit the website ,the book's introduction "The Controller's Job" is available in PDF format. This gives an overview of the Controllers function.
The Research Foundation identified 10 job titles that are common within a control department based on a review of the FEI member database:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Accounting Officer
- VP Finance and Controller
- VP and Controller
- VP and Corporate Controller
- Controller and Treasurer
- Comptroller
- Division Controller
- Deputy Controller
- Assistant Controller
- Accounting Manager