5 Signs Your CFO Has an Outdated View on Business

The business world has changed dramatically with developments in technology and a turbulent global economy, and if your CFO has an outdated view on business, your organisation could suffer.

These days, not only do CFOs need the ability to manage financial performance, but they also need to serve as agents of transformation. They need the expertise to work toward growth in specific industries. Essentially, the modern CFO must have a wide breadth of financial acumen, leadership, and influence. This is not the time for a CFO with an outdated view on business.

The following are 5 signs that your CFO has an outdated view on business:

 

1. A Narrow Range of Financial Roles

Most people have a few things they're really good at, and if your CFO likes to stick to the one or two things he or she is comfortable with, you might be in trouble.

It used to be that a CFO could specialise in one area of finance and have the experience to successfully handle the financial demands of a company. Today, however, a CFO must have expertise in accounting, auditing, controller, treasury, and tax experience because of the complexity of the environment in which we live. It can be difficult to find someone with such a wide range of experience in financial roles, and you may have to be innovative in your approach to helping your company to have access to all of this expertise.

 

2. A Lack of lnternational Experience

Years ago, a company could get away with having a few "international experts," perhaps in the legal department, who would take care of the regulatory and cultural fine points of doing business in other countries. Today, however, with a highly integrated global economy, your CFO needs to have international experience of his or her own. Next-generation CFOs cannot adopt the mindset that international experience is optional.

Without international experience, CFOs have a difficult time keeping their companies competitive in today's markets. They need international experience to help them manage risk, anticipate volatile markets, and deal with international regulatory requirements. 

 

3. Little Interest in Strategic Change Projects

If your CFO thinks that strategic change project experience is not part of his or her job description, your company will suffer.

Today's business organisations must be agile enough to handle changes in cost structure, IT, mergers and acquisitions, and more. Has your CFO navigated a company through such changes? Especially in regards to M&A? A CFO should be able to participate in the pre-deal stage of valuation as well as due diligence and the post-merger integration phase. 

 

4. Narrow Industry Experience

"I'm strictly a finance guy," is a phrase that CFOs of years past might have been heard to say, but today's CFOs need a wider range of industry experience.

According to an Ernst and Young survey, 67-percent of respondents thought that prospective CFOs who spent their entire careers in finance were at a disadvantage compared with those who had direct commercial experience. With a broader industrial understanding, CFOs are in a better position to make decisions, lead teams, and make synergistic connections with other companies.

 

5. Discomfort Over Working With Stakeholders

Some CFOs like to work solely within their organisations with the other employees and company leadership but feel uncomfortable working with stakeholders. This can be problematic because your CFO should be comfortable in a higher profile position.

Increasingly, CFOs are being relied upon to build relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders: equity and bond investors, regulators, banks, analysts, rating agencies, and even the media. When you have a CFO who can develop positive relationships with all of these stakeholders, your company is in a much stronger growth position.

For more information about the changing role of CFOs today, or to learn about how Altus Financial can help your company to achieve its goals, contact us.