Evolving Skill Set

As the traditional CFO role expands beyond accounting and compliance to a more strategic role and partner to the CEO, the capabilities that future CFOs will need to bring to the table are also evolving. Today, according to recruiters, successful CFOs need strategic thinking, leadership and communications skills worthy of a national politician, along with experience in running a business.



In a study from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), current CFOs identified strategy formulation and execution as the most important areas in which future CFOs need to gain experience. In the report, “Future Pathways to Financial Leadership,” experience in risk management and merger and acquisition activity ranked as the other top areas.



And believe it or not, while a core financial understanding is essential, today’s retail CFO may not need an accounting or finance degree at all, according to some experts.



“If you have good business savvy, and you have good accountants and auditors, it’s no longer mandatory,” said Al Ferrara, a partner and leader of the retail and consumer products practice of BDO, Melville, N.Y.



A good retail CFO must understand and embrace the entire business, and also have an intimate understanding of every function within that business, advised Les Berglass, chairman and CEO of executive search firm Berglass+Associates, New York City.



“I want someone who understands the stores and distribution, what the merchant does and the cost of each function,” he said.



Good communications skills increasingly are important, as many CFOs are becoming the face of their companies, especially in light of recent regulations, Ferrara added.

“Before Sarbanes-Oxley, the CEO used to do presentations,” Ferrara said. “More and more, CFOs do it now.”



Along those lines, leadership skills and communication skills, followed by strategic-thinking skills, ranked as the three top management skills identified in the ACCA report.



“If we fast forward 10 or 15 years, we can see some significant factors shaping the business landscape: faster business change; rebalancing growth across markets; new finance function models; the proliferation of information; and the advent of social, mobile and cloud technologies,” stated Jamie Lyon, ACCA head of corporate sector and author of the report.



“These developments will impact how and where business is done and how the finance function operates. But also, it means the capabilities that finance leaders need will evolve, too.”