Chief financial officer - wikipedia Chief financial officer `` CFO '' redirects here. For other uses, see CFO ( disambiguation ). The chief financial officer ( CFO ) or chief financial and operating officer ( CFOO ) is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record - keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management. In some sectors the CFO is also responsible for analysis of data. The title is equivalent to finance director ( FD ), a common title in the United Kingdom. The CFO typically reports to the chief executive officer and to the board of directors, and may additionally sit on the board. The CFO supervises the finance unit and is the chief financial spokesperson for the organization. The CFO reports directly to the president / chief executive officer ( CEO ) and directly assists the chief operating officer ( COO ) on all strategic and tactical matters as they relate to budget management, cost -- benefit analysis, forecasting needs and the securing of new funding. Contents 1 Qualification 2 Federal government of the United States 3 Changing role 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Qualification Most CFOs of large companies have finance qualifications such as a Master of Business Administration, Master of Science, or come from an accounting background such as a Certified Public Accountant. A finance department would usually contain some accountants with Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant, or equivalent status such as master of finance. Federal government of the United States 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. OMB Circular A-123 ( issued 21 December 2004 ) defines the management responsibilities for internal financial controls in federal agencies and addressed to all federal CFOs, CIOs and Program Managers. The circular is a re-examination of the existing internal control requirements for federal agencies and was initiated in light of the new internal control requirements for publicly traded companies contained in the Sarbanes -- Oxley Act of 2002. 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. '' 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. At the same time, in calendar year 2007, the CFOC announced that for the second consecutive year, every major federal agency completed its Performance and Accountability Report just 45 days after the end of the fiscal year ( 2006 ). Changing role In recent years, 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 a strategic partner and advisor to the CEO. 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. However a 2016 survey of CFOs suggests that their new role has been overhyped 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. The rise of digital technologies and a focus on data analytics to support decision making impacting almost every industry and organisation will only add more pressure for CFOs to address this tension on finding the time to make the time to meet the expectations of their C - Suite colleagues. Many organisations have embarked on the journey to help achieve this by creating a finance function based on four distinct pillars - An Accounting organisation structured as a shared service, an FP&A organisation responsible to drive financial planning processes as well as driving increased insight into financial and non financial KPIs that drive business performance, a Finance Business Partnering organisation that supports the leadership of divisions, regions, functions to drive performance improvement and, last but not least, expertise centres around the areas of Tax, Treasury, Internal Audit, M&A 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. The CFO must serve as the financial authority in the organization, 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 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. '' The uneven pace of recovery worldwide has made it more challenging for many companies. CFOs are increasingly playing a more critical role in shaping their company 's strategies today, especially in light of the highly uncertain macroeconomic environments, where managing financial volatilities is becoming a centerpiece for many companies ' strategies, based on a survey held by Clariden Global. 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. 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. With time, the rising economic issues and complexities faced by the businesses, have warranted the need for full - time finance officers in companies. However, because of the high costs associated with hiring a full time CFO, the concept of Virtual CFO has gradually increased in popularity. For this reason, many Companies like vcfo have started to offer virtual, affordable solutions that can help businesses making better strategic, financial and operational decisions. See also Virtual CFO Treasurer Auditor general Comptroller References Jump up ^ `` GAO : U.S. Financial Statements Receive Disclaimer of Opinion For 10th Straight Year '' ( PDF ). Gao.gov. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Jump up ^ `` McKinsey on Finance. No. 27, Spring 2008 ''. McKinsey.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016. Jump up ^ `` Future of the Finance Function Survey 2016 ''. FSN Research. Retrieved 25 May 2016. Jump up ^ Maureen O'Connell, Scholastic Inc. ( 28 October 2014 ). `` How CFO 's Can Turn Stakeholders Into Allies - By Maureen O'Connell ''. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Jump up ^ `` What Board expects from CFO ''. TopFinanceProfessionals.com. Retrieved 7 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Clariden Global ''. Claridenglobal.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Jump up ^ Thomson, Jeff. `` Why CFOs Need To Be Chief Future Officers ''. Forbes.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Jump up ^ `` The CFO and the CPO : One World, Two Worldviews Chief Financial Officer ( CFO ) and Chief Procurement Officer ( CPO ) ''. Ardentpartners.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Jump up ^ `` Virtual CFOs gain popularity ''. People Matters. Jump up ^ `` Finance Solutions ''. vcfo. Retrieved 15 December 2017. External links 5 KPIs that Every CFO, Controller and Finance Manager Should Know Top 5 Challenges that CFOs are Facing Today Essential Words for a CFO 's Dictionary Corporate titles Chief officers Administrative Analytics Audit Brand Business Channel Commercial Communications Compliance Content Creative Data Design Digital Diversity Executive ( CEO ) Experience Financial Human resources Information Information security Innovation Investment Knowledge Learning Legal Marketing Medical Networking Operating Privacy Procurement Product Quality Research Restructuring Revenue Risk Science Security Strategy Sustainability Technology Visionary Web Senior executives Chairman Chief managing director Creative director Development director General counsel Executive director Non-executive director President Vice president Mid-level executives General manager Divisional manager Regional manager First - level executives Departmental manager Manager Related topics Board of directors Corporate governance Executive pay Senior management Supervisory board Talent management NDL : 01117888 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chief_financial_officer&oldid=815584556 '' Categories : Chief financial officers Management occupations Corporate governance Finance occupations Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from September 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Frysk 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano Қазақша Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 December 2017, at 19 : 05. About Wikipedia

Question: who has responsibility for financial management of an incorporated organisation
Answer: chief financial officer (CFO) or chief financial and operating officer (CFOO)