IFAC Financial and Management Accounting Committee January 2002 The Role of the Chief Financial Officer in 2010 CFO 2010 Issued by the International Federation of Accountants The mission of the International Federation of Accountants IFAC is the worldwide development and enhancement of an accountancy profession with harmonized standards able to provide services of consistently high quality in the public interest This booklet was prepared by the Financial Management Accounting Committee FMAC of IFAC The mission of FMAC is To encourage amplify and supplement programs that focus on the financial and management accountant as conducted by IFAC Member Bodies to Provide for the development and support of such professionals and Build public awareness understanding and demand for their services To provide an international forum for exchange of information regarding current development and emerging issues that shape the management accounting profession The FMAC welcomes any comments you have on this booklet Comments should be sent to Technical Director International Federation of Accountants 535 Fifth Avenue 26th Floor New York New York 10017 3610 USA Fax 1 212 286 9570 E mail edcomments ifac org Copies of this paper may be downloaded free of charge from the IFAC website at www ifac org Copyright January 2002 by the International Federation of Accountants All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the International Federation of Accountants ISBN 1 887464 77 8 FOREWORD The Financial and Management Accounting Committee FMAC of the International Federation of Accountants IFAC explores emerging trends and seeks to represent contemporary best practice in the domain of accounting work concerned with the management of organizations This is done primarily through a range of publications annual theme booklets an annual collection of articles of merit research studies International Management Accounting Practice Statements IMAPS and guides for practitioners These publications are available through the IFAC website at www ifac org Past theme booklets have covered topics like Management Accountancy in the Year 2004 and The Senior Financial Officer in the Year 2005 Such has been the speed of change that these documents describe practice today A recent study No 11 examined A Profession Transforming From Accounting to Management This explored emerging trends from the view of 12 member bodies of IFAC representing six countries Four of the bodies are specialist associations looking at the field of management accounting the remaining eight are professional bodies seeking to be more responsive and more representative of their members working in management related roles in business and public practice The study explored the 12 professional associations in varying stages and states of transition to the future and each told their own story to date The insights and changes they were pursuing individually were collectively indicative of an underlying or imminent transformation in the profession This is best summarized by stating that the findings identified that the finance function in organizations was transforming in terms of a value added managerial focus its area of organizational involvement the capabilities expected from it and its leadership the Chief Financial Officer the consolidation elimination or outsourcing of much of its work responsibilities and the radical reduction of its headcount It seemed sensible therefore to canvas the views of 10 leading chief financial officers to get them to tell their stories This theme booklet is the result of that exercise Once again the members of FMAC identified leaders in their field across many countries businesses and public sectors They agreed that this story would be best described through the facilitation of a leading author and enrolled the help of Robert Bruce Accountancy Editor of The Times The Chief Financial Officers are all from companies with easily recognizable names and with views from North America and Europe together with countries like Argentina and Hong Kong We thank them for the time they gave to the interviews but especially for their candid comments and for sharing their insights It was encouraging from an FMAC viewpoint to note that all of them address the role of the CFO in the strategic direction of their companies Other notable topics covered included investor relations acquisitions and the CFO role in corporate governance and risk management This theme booklet The Role of the Chief Financial Officer in 2010 tells the story from the individual viewpoints of these CFOs which can be seen in the themes chosen Developing a Vision for the Future Managing the Information Flow Moving Away from Transactions Treasury Will Take Priority Becoming the Process Owner Part of the Team But Apart