The role of today's Chief Financial Officer follows a broader mandate than having core financial reporting skills and has evolved to ensure that companies maintain their sustainability, discussions held by a panel of industry practitioners revealed Oct. 18.

Panelists on the discussion--held by Ernst & Young and Financial Executives International--said that since the 2008 financial crisis, market conditions have forced CFOs to adapt year-to-year--based on their specific companies’ needs. The discussion was focused on the evolving role of CFOs.

A live survey among the some two thousand participants on the Webinar of how CFOs spend their time revealed the following:

• 48.2 percent, on execution: providing financial analysis and insight to support decision making by the Chief Executive Officer
• 27 percent, on development: developing strategy and reporting to external shareholders
• 15 percent, on enablement: initiatives that support business strategy

The panelists were: Lainie Goldstein, CFO of Take-Two Interactive Sofware, Inc.; Arthur Minson, COO of AOL, Inc.; Myles Corson, Partner at Enst & Young; William Leisy in the Americas Human Capital Practise at Ernst & Young. It was moderated by Martha Cook, Principle in Ernst and Young's Americas Human Capital Practise. Edith Orenstein, Director of Accounting Policy Analysis and Communications, represented FEI.

Discussions indicated that CFOs view themselves as operating partner with the CEO--in essence sharing a symbiotic relationship. AOL's Minson, who moved from the role of CFO to Chief Operating Officer, said accounting is an important start for CFOs since being able to speak that as a language of business is essential.  However, he listed it as one among other important aspects of the role.

"From [accounting background] we looked at how many other boxes they have [such as, do] they run investor relations, do they have relationships on Wall Street, tax experience, M&A experience--being able to check as many boxes, will help you be as broad a CFO as possible," said Minson. "Because I do think the job is just getting broader and broader," he said.

By dlugo@bna.com (Denise Lugo)