Annie Ropar, CFO of Aequitas NEO Exchange Inc. & Michael Conway, president and CEO of Financial Executives International Canada
Think chief financial officers are chained to a desk all day? Being CFO has evolved into one of the most exciting positions in today's business world, with a front seat in helping the chief executive officer steer strategic planning.
"Strategy is probably the most important expansion in the CFO's role," says Michael Conway, FCPA, FCA, president and chief executive officer of Financial Executives International Canada (FEI Canada), whose tagline is "leadership beyond finance."
Seeing the big picture
"Like their CEO, CFOs have an ideal vantage point that allows them to see beyond the concerns of individual business units and view the organization holistically," Mr. Conway observes. "Smart CEOs realize they need to leverage their CFO's experience more since a strong CEO/CFO team is often very powerful."
Take mergers and acquisitions. Although the CEO drives the vision, the CFO must execute it by finding the opportunities, says Annie Ropar, CPA, CA, CFO of Aequitas NEO Exchange Inc., Canada's newest stock exchange.
"Other than the CEO, the CFO is in one of the best positions to be able to make all the linkages between the different areas and different groups to assess the impact of a potential merger on the organization," notes Ms. Ropar, a member of FEI Canada.
The CFO plays an important role in the M&A process at two critical stages, Mr. Conway says.
Michael Conway, president and CEO of Financial Executives International Canada, says the CFO sees the organization holistically.
The first is during the closing of the deal, to ensure that financial targets are met and the transaction is executed at a reasonable price. The second, less publicized stage comes over the next few years, which determine if the integration achieves the synergies promised in the business case brought to the board before it approved the merger.
"The hardest, heavy lifting is making these synergies happen, and the CFOs are key to that," Mr. Conway asserts.
The CFO as strategic partner
Thanks to their varied experience, today's CFOs are also better prepared to give broader strategic leadership to all parts of the organization.
"The path to the CFO's chair is no longer as straight-up as it used to be," Mr. Conway says. "Once upon a time, somebody joined the accounting department, and they worked hard and became controller, vice-president of finance and then CFO. That still occurs, but it's far less frequent."
Now a newly minted finance grad will take a junior position in the finance department, where they're often groomed for bigger roles. But after reaching those targets, they must branch out and work in different areas of the business, sometimes as heads of other departments or divisions, Mr. Conway explains.
As a result, the CFO better understands the relationship between the finance department and other business units, operations and products. For example, there's a close connection between the CFO and Technology, as demonstrated by how closely many CFOs now work with their CIOs.
After the CEO, the CFO is in the next best position to assess the impact of a potential merger, says Annie Ropar, CFO of Aequitas NEO Exchange Inc.
"We partner with our Technology colleagues on multiple levels, because technology is often the biggest spend after people costs, so it's important we are aligned on everything from strategy to internal controls," says Ms. Ropar, describing it as a critical risk management issue for the CFO.
The CFO is the strategic partner of the CEO, who, in a private company, is also often the founding entrepreneur.
"Our CFO Leadership Beyond Finance Program has a wide variety of people from public and private companies involved in it," Mr. Conway says. "From many of them, we hear firsthand discussions about how the founding-family shareholders rely upon the CFO for counsel on both the running of the business, and also their office and individual family succession plans."
Making sure the numbers are sound will always be the CFO's duty, he stresses. "But once they've done that, they get to work with the business units and offer solutions that add value to the organization."
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department in consultation with Canada's CFO of the Year. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.