CFO is a person who is called upon to
maximize the profit from the business and its value. He participates in
managing the activities of a particular enterprise, collaborating with managers of a higher level and contributing to the solution of the tasks set by the company. So what are the main functions and responsibilities of a financial director?
The first group of functions of such an employee is strategic planning and forecasting of the enterprise. The CFO should evaluate the sources of financing of the company, possible development risks, the effectiveness of cooperation with sources of financing, and so on. In this case, the financier does not make decisions independently: all important issues are resolved together with the owners and managers of the company.
As for the organizational activities of the financial director, this specialist manages his department and coordinates interaction with other structural divisions of the enterprise. Since all departments of the company must actively cooperate, these responsibilities of the CFO are considered very important.
In addition, the chief financier of any enterprise performs functions related to tactical and operational activities. These responsibilities include managing sources of funds, managing finances and current assets, developing the tax policy of the enterprise and its implementation, providing users with information (data processing and preparing financial statements), planning the activities of the enterprise from a financial point of view, and monitoring the economic security of the enterprise ensuring its efficient operation. Naturally, all of the above responsibilities related to the tactical and operational sphere have a number of nuances and additional functions, which, in turn, may differ depending on the direction of activity of a particular company and its features.
As a rule, the
functional duties of the financial director are enshrined in the relevant documents with legal status. In most cases, the financier operates under the supervision of the CEO. It often happens that the opinions of these employees may differ, which causes conflicts and disagreements. In large companies, the financial director can report both to the general director and the board of directors. In this case, everything that the financial director (job responsibilities) does is clearly stated in the instructions.
Currently, financial management in large companies plays an important role, so experts in this field are very in demand. If there is no such position, the duties of the financial director can be distributed between the director, accountant and heads of departments, but the fact that these functions should be performed remains a fact. Whether there is a position of financial director in a company depends not on its size, but on strategic plans. If we compare the position of the financier with other positions in companies, then it appeared not very long ago. At first, this employee managed financial flows, but with the development of the business, his responsibilities expanded and began to follow the traditions of foreign practice.