Financial Officer
Generally speaking, the CFO position is reserved for very experienced professionals with established track records in their field. CFOs are generally equipped with advanced educational designations, such as a Master of Finance or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Many CFOs have professional backgrounds in fields such as accounting, investment banking, or financial analysis. For financial professionals, the CFO is among the most prestigious and highly-paid positions available in a firm.
financial officer
The federal government of the United States has incorporated more elements of business-sector practices in its management approaches, including the use of the CFO position alongside, for example, an increased use of the chief information officer post, within public agencies.
The Chief Financial Officers Act, enacted in 1990, created a chief financial officer in each of 23 federal agencies. This was intended to improve the government's financial management and develop standards of financial performance and disclosure. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) holds primary responsibility for financial management standardization and improvement. Within OMB, the Deputy Director for Management, a position established by the CFO Act, is the chief official responsible for financial management.
The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) is specifically charged with overseeing financial management matters, establishing financial management policies and requirements, and monitoring the establishment and operation of federal financial management systems. OFFM is led by a controller.
The CFO Act also established the CFO Council, chair by the OMB Deputy Director for Management and including the CFOs and Deputy CFOs of 23 federal agencies, the OFFM controller, and the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, the head of the Office of Fiscal Service of the Department of the Treasury. Its mandate is to work collaboratively to improve financial management in the U.S. government and "advise and coordinate the activities of the agencies of its members" in the areas of financial management and accountability.
While significant progress in improving federal financial management has been made since the federal government began preparing consolidated financial statements, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that "major impediments continue to prevent [GAO] from rendering an opinion."[2] In December 2006, the GAO announced that for the 10th consecutive year, the GAO was prevented from expressing an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of the government due to a number of material weaknesses related to financial systems, fundamental recordkeeping, and financial reporting.
The role of the CFO has evolved significantly. Traditionally being viewed as a financial gatekeeper, the role of the CFO has expanded and evolved to an advisor and a strategic partner to the CEO.[3][4] In fact, in a report released by McKinsey, 88 percent of 164 CFOs surveyed reported that CEOs expect them to be more active participants in shaping the strategy of their organizations. Half of them also indicated that CEOs counted on them to challenge the company's strategy.[5] As a result, the 1990s saw the rise of the strategic CFO, and more recently many companies have created a chief strategy officer (CSO) position.[6] As a result, a 2016 survey of CFOs suggests that their new role has focused on financial reporting, with 52% of CFOs still finding themselves bogged down in the basics of traditional accounting practices such as transaction reporting and unable to make time for business partnering.[7] The rise of digital technologies and a focus on data analytics to support decision making impacting almost every industry and organization will only add more pressure on CFOs to address this tension on finding the time to meet the expectations of their C-Suite colleagues.[8] Many organizations have embarked on the journey to help achieve this by creating a finance function based on four distinct pillars - An Accounting organization structured as a shared service, an FP&A organization responsible for driving financial planning processes as well as driving increased insight into financial and non financial KPIs that drive business performance, a Finance Business Partnering organization that supports the leadership of divisions, regions, functions to drive performance improvement and, last but not least, expertise centers around the areas of Tax, Treasury, Internal Audit, Investor Relations, etc.
According to one source, "The CFO of tomorrow should be a big-picture thinker, rather than detail-oriented, outspoken rather than reserved, prefer to delegate rather than be hands-on, emphasize what gets done rather than how things are done, and make collaborative rather than unilateral decisions.[9] The CFO must serve as the financial authority in the organization,[10] ensuring the integrity of fiscal data and modeling transparency and accountability. The CFO is as much a part of governance and oversight as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), playing a fundamental role in the development and critique of strategic choices. The CFO is now expected to be a key player in stockholder education[11] and communication and is clearly seen as a leader and team builder who sets the financial agenda for the organization, supports the CEO directly and provides timely advice to the board of directors."[12]
The uneven pace of recovery worldwide has made it more challenging for many companies. CFOs play a more critical role in shaping their company's strategies today, especially in light of the highly uncertain macroeconomic environments,[13] where managing financial volatilities is a centerpiece for many companies' strategies, based on a survey held by Clariden Global.[14] CFOs are increasingly being relied upon as the owners of business information, reporting and financial data within organizations and assisting in decision support operations to enable the company to operate more effectively and efficiently.
The duties of a modern CFO now straddle the traditional areas of financial stewardship and the more progressive areas of strategic and business leadership with direct responsibility and oversight of operations (which often includes procurement) expanding exponentially.[15] This significant role-based transformation, which is well underway, is best-evidenced by the "CEO-in-Waiting" status that many CFOs now hold. Additionally, many CFOs have made the realization that an operating environment that values cash, profit margins, and risk mitigation is one that plays to the primary skills and capabilities of a procurement organization, and become increasingly involved (directly via oversight or indirectly through improved collaboration) with the procurement function according to a recent research report that looks at the CFO's relationship with procurement.[16]
Supporting Statement for the Senior Financial Officer Survey(FR 2023, OMB No. 7100-0223)The Board uses the surveys in this collection to gather qualitative and limited quantitative information about liability management, the provision of financial services, and the functioning of key financial markets. Responses are obtained from a senior officer at each participating institution usually through an electronic submission. Although a survey may not be collected in a given year, the Board may conduct up to four surveys per year when informational needs arise and cannot be met from existing data sources. The survey does not have a fixed set of questions; each survey consists of a limited number of questions directed at topics of timely interest.
The questions asked on each survey will vary, so the ability of the Board to maintain the confidentiality of information collected must be determined on a case by case basis. It is likely that much of the information collected would constitute confidential financial information obtained from a person and would thus be protected from disclosure under exemption 4 to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)). Exemption 8 of the FOIA, which protects information related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared for the use of an agency supervising financial institutions, may also occasionally apply (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8)).
Continue to create and implement a financial infrastructure that results in a structurally balanced budget and long-term plan, while enabling the City to make investments that improve the quality of life for Detroiters.
This page contains links to various financial reports for the City of Detroit, including its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Single Audit, Four-Year Financial Plan (annual budget), and Monthly Financial Reports.
The Chief Financial Officer is pleased to present the long-range capital financial plan report for the District of Columbia, which discusses the District's infrastructure financing needs and possible funding solutions over the next several years.
Our dedicated team oversees the university procurement and sourcing process, accounts payable and receivable, tax compliance, financial reporting, general and sponsored accounting, treasury and debt management, benefits and payroll, revenue management, payment systems, and overall university budgeting.
Trey Wood is the chief financial officer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. He is responsible for the overall financial management of the agency and oversees the departments of Provider Finance, Actuarial Analysis, Forecasting, Budget, Accounting, and PTLL (Payroll, Time, Labor & Leave).
Looking to gain a better understanding of accounting and financial reporting for state and localgov? Attend GFOA's popular Accounting Academy in Chicago April 25-28. This intensive four-day workshop will get you up to speed on highly specialized rules, guidelines, and practices on GAAP, fund accounting, component units, budgetary reporting, government-wide financial reporting, and more. 041b061a72