CFO Challenges

The CFO's role

• React to new developments in terms of financial communication with institutions/shareholders/pension funds and become the real top management liaison officer with regards financial communication
• Lobbying with regulatory bodies
• A liaison officer for subsidiaries/operations management to support data quality and deadlines (by communicating the "correct validated figures")
• Ensure quality and homogeneity of generated data
• Support operations managers to transform their operational results vision into value creation in terms of cash (cash management)
• Act as an interface between top management/operations management and external stakeholders

CFO's structure: The three components

• A management division (perform the management function/and challenge operational figures)
• A financial communication division (consolidation for external presentation and top management)
• An internal audit division (procedures, control, organisation optimisation)

The economic management model

• Currently, statutory accounts and operational reporting are too isolated from one another to enable successful reporting. Systems have not contributed enough because either they are too complex, or projects have not catered for the re-design of processes.
• Reporting (IFRS mode) leads to a data confidentiality issue (retaining competitive advantage)
• A homogeneous "internal” and “external/financial communication" reporting model must be created
• The Profit & Loss is only an internal reporting concern: shareholders and investors are only interested by the value of cash and assets (balance sheet)
• Reporting must increasingly include eco-responsibility indicators
• The system must allow immediate information comparisons as organisations are constantly evolving

Information systems

• ERP remains an everyday challenge for enterprises (cost v/s added value). They must regain their ability to grow in parallel with their subsidiaries.
• The IT infrastructure is incomprehensible due to the systems’ level of technicality
• We are faced with permanent IT instability and too many of business stakeholders’ real needs are being left unfulfilled
• IT projects do not help to develop further processes

Regulatory obligations

• The internal and external environment create an obligation to strengthen internal control
• CFOs have a great deal of documentation to produce (annual reports, appendices, etc.) to satisfy the regulatory SOX requirements
• The information system must allow regulatory reporting tracking and coherence management with internal reporting
• Standards’ constant evolution requires permanent adjustments to the information system

Current and future trends

• Finance management is also responsible for risks (acquisitions due diligence, IT risks, etc.)
• Organisations' growing financial structure
• Cash-based management is performed even at operations management level
• Support functions outsourcing (HR, accounting, IT (service centres)) is still a major trend
• Top management is more than ever reliant on CFOs for “interpretation of figures”

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