As CFOs increasingly move from bean-counters to providing strategic and operational insights, their connection with marketing continues to grow.
A recent survey of CFOs by American Express reveals that 31% of CFOs are planning to increase their companies’ marketing budgets in the next 12 months. Interestingly, 57% of CFOs stated that they plan on maintaining the same level of marketing and advertising investments.
In addition, it’s clear that the strategic role and influence of the CFO continues to grow in importance:
“According to Jose Carvalho, senior VP of global commercial payments for Europe at American Express, the role of the CFO has progressed beyond ‘balancing the books’.
‘CFOs in 2017 don’t just have to balance the books – they are having to tackle everything from automation to international trade, and plan their investment accordingly.
‘The [Chief Financial Officer] isn’t just the guardian of the purse strings. They are absolutely critical to helping businesses survive and thrive, by investing in the right areas, in the right ways.’”
From our perspective of being an outsourced, part-time CFO to a variety of companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, we wholeheartedly concur that CFOs are more important to a company’s strategy and operations than ever before.