The Ascent of the CFO as CEO: A Critical Analysis

Another central feature of the board of directors is the question of whether the CEO is also the chairman of the board. When the CEO is also the chairman this is often referred to as “CEO duality”. In the US the CEO is often the chairman of the board. Studies have shown that the board in most cases

As a CEO or a member of the management team it is important to have a very clear understanding of all the financial documents that are available to them. It is not only their duty but their responsibility to know these documents and finances extremely well because

You have been named the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a two year old company, CUNY Analytics. Financials have been prepared by a bookkeeper. As CFO, you responsible for the preparation of accurate financials, analysis and review of the financials before they are released and communication of the results of your company to banks, investors, creditors and the government, as necessary.

The area that I chose to discuss under the CFO is the Director of Budgeting. The roles and responsibilities include handling the budget, and managing all expenditures and its limits, supervising staff, and analyzing profit goals, revenue, and expenses while complying the regulations of not only the company but the state and federal industry as well. Some additional methods of management that would fall under this area include directors of human resources. They work hand in hand with each other when it comes to making sure funds are available for new staff hiring, new functions of operations, employee medical and dental benefits, etc.

Below, I provided you with a list of CEO responses and also a list of non-CEO responses to this question.

Schafer and Bell (2005) discuss some of the things a Chief Executive Officer must do in order to provide strong financial leadership. One thing a Chief Executive Officer must do is hire a financial staff that is knowledgeable about not only basic finance practices but those that are specific to nonprofit needs such as the ins and outs of restricted and non-restricted funds and the use of the Statement of Accounting Standard 117. The CEO must also hire an appropriate amount of staff to make sure everything is being done in the most efficient manner and allow for accountability. Schafer and Bell (2005) also talked about following a standardized set of financial practices that help keep the organization in line with everyone else so if new staff do come in they are able to come into a system that they are more than likely familiar with. The other thing that Schafer and Bell (2005) talk about is having a uniform accounting system. To do this an organization must have a chart of accounts which helps keep track of all financials and makes it easy for non-finance staff to interact with. Most of all, whether an organization’s CEO has a finance background or not it is their responsibility to develop that skill so they are able to successfully navigate that aspect of their organization and have a strong financial presence so they are able to lead in that

Although the CEO states that the CFO’s style compliments his own style, their differences in strategies and overall mindsets may prove disastrous for the company. The fact that the CFO thinks the company should consider selling of their existing services line while the CEO is talking about acquiring an entire company for their service lines makes not synergy between the two. They may spend more time spinning their wheels arguing over viewpoints than making progress in the company’s growth. Additionally, the CEO’s concern that he may lose the CFO if the deal is finalized should not be a showstopper for the CEO if the deal is in the best interests of the

This report will focus on the main topics and concerns about CFO’s. First, we will focus on the history of the CFO. How the CFO came to be a reality and how different the position is today from fifty years ago. Second, what does the CFO really do? What time of jobs CFO’s have to take on everyday? Third, what are the attributes a person needs to have in order to be a successful CFO. Lastly, we will look at some of the highest paid CFO’s that we have in our country today. This reports purpose is to shed some light on the CFO and the importance of their jobs in the business industry. I was unaware on how much a CFO actually does until I actually did some research about them. I have gain a new respect for them after reading how much time and effort they have to work in order to run a successful business.

It is highly recommended that the CFO does not interfere with the CAE’s job to provide feedback directly to the audit committee. Moreover, the company’s strategy should be discussed to assure that COO, marketing and sales VP and general counsel do not take passive roles. Additionally, the CFO should not focus so greatly on opposite strategy as presented by the CEO, as now the CEO wanted to maintain secure growth via acquisitions, securing gap in production and more geographic coverage, and on the other had the CFO wanted only more and more new acquisitions, which was not the right approach because his subordinates may have been confused about company’s strategy.

A recent study by Xue Wang (Emory University) tackles how SOX has affected the compensation and turnover rates of CFOs.   They play a critical role in developing firms’ financial reporting and making voluntary disclosure decisions.   Moreover, CFOs are ultimately responsible for the quality of internal control systems.   The study provides some important insights about the impact of SOX on the executive labor market.   It shows that requiring more disclosure of information about a firm’s internal controls provides some positive benefits with respect to corporate governance, in this case making it easier for boards to monitor the activities of CFOs.   In comparing and contrasting firms with strong internal controls received an increase in salary, bonus, and total compensation in the post-SOX time periods.   In contrast, CFOs of corporations reporting a problem with their internal controls incurred a significant reduction in their compensation packages.   With respect to CFO turnover, Wang did find that CFO turnover rates generally increased form the pre- to post-SOX period.

The Chief Operations Officer (COO) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) are the responsible individuals, which must make the appropriate decisions in order to protect the company’s wealth. As the COO, responsibilities include supervision of the three different product lines that

In order to be successful in the long range, the CEO's strategy must encompass countless factors. He must devise a plan to grow the business in the face of competitors, not only from within the United States but from any and every region of today's global economy. The CEO calls the plays for a team of tens (and sometimes hundreds) of thousands of workers. All of the actions of every employee and every aspect of the business must be coordinated and integrated to produce the cars, computers or CAT scanners that yield profits to the company. It is the CEO who is responsible for that integration.

As Satya Nadella takes over the position that Mr. Ballmer once endured, his spirit took off with great confidence concerning his new role at the company (Microsoft, 2014). The next decade is likely to reveal the level of success his abilities bring to the future of the company and his own status as leader.

Like most multinational corporations, the shareholders own the company and they may also be the board of directors. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be appointed to nominate and manage the operation of the company as a whole. A Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be managing the company’s day-to-day operations and reports them to CEO. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will be managing the finance and account together with the

The job of the CEO, everyone knows, is to make decisions. And most of them do— countless times in the course of their tenures. But if those decisions are to have an