From CFO to CEO: Do you think finance departments are the best place to train future CEOs?

Essay by athorn343 July 2007

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

In my opinion, promoting the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) can be a risky move. I will first explain the pros and then the cons of moving the CFO to CEO, and why I would be against this move most every time.

The duties of the CEO are he /she should communicate well, be good at managing his managers, have leadership skills, understand the company's product and operations, provide a goal and set the direction the company need to move towards. There are many more things a CEO must have such as people skills, how to gets his plan off paper and into the hearts and minds of the employees. Over time the CEO has improved these skills as he has climbed up the corporate ladder on his way to the top. The CEO must have vision, be a decision maker, risk taker, and always on the pulse of every head managers department.

The CFO's primary role in the company will be to examine the day-to-day financial outlook of the company. He will have knowledge of the generally accepted accounting principles, and must know the security exchange commission regulations. The CFO should be able to handle the capital financing and operational financing with ease. The duties of the CFO vary widely. They oversee all financial and account functions and formulate and administer the organization's overall financial plans and policies. The CFO manages all other financial managers' department heads of their perspectives duties. The CFO manages the controllers, cash managers, insurance managers, credit managers, and many other task under there direct supervision.
