ZDNet recently had an article illustrating the increasing importance of the CFO role in both small businesses and startups. No longer are CFOs glorified “bean counters” solely focused on accounting or bookkeeping. This trend is both global as well as local here in Silicon Valley and the overall San Francisco Bay Area.
“They are now using data from other parts of the business to help make business decisions.”
Data from a variety of key areas (e.g., sales, marketing, supply chain, manufacturing, etc.) within a company are now being analyzed intensively by CFOs in order to help drive changes and improvements in revenues, costs, profits, and cash flow.
In addition, it’s important to have both the correct data as well as the right set of skills for a CFO to be effective. Today’s CFOs are “much more rounded individuals” with strong overall, cross-functional skills in sales, marketing, and finance.