Beyond the balance sheet: Why CFOs remain businesses’ ultimate co-pilots

Detailed summary

As financial leaders take on a bigger role in business strategy, CEOs and CFOs must bridge the gap between ambition and commercial reality, speakers said at the NAFA Summit Dubai…

CFOs are increasingly expected to help shape business strategy, understand operations and even bring artificial intelligence into the workplace, moving well beyond their traditional responsibility of managing accounts and financial performance, industry leaders said at the New Age Finance and Accounting Summit (NAFA) Summit Dubai on Wednesday.

The evolving role is also changing the relationship between chief executives and finance chiefs, with the two expected to balance business ambition against financial risks and commercial realities.

Speaking during a session titled 'In the room together: A CEO and CFO on how the partnership really works', Saad Siddiqui, CFO of The Giving Movement, said the biggest challenge was often bridging the gap between a CEO's long-term vision and a CFO's responsibility to assess whether the business could afford to pursue it.

"CEOs come with a different ambition. They want to take the business forward. They see the long-term vision for the business. Then it comes down to CFOs to make it a reality," he said.

He explained that while both leaders may agree on the direction of a business, they could approach opportunities from very different perspectives.

"Someone is coming purely from an ambitious kind of mindset, and someone coming purely from a risk and commercial kind of lens. How do these numbers make sense? For example, do we have right capital to invest and to make that ambition a reality?"

Siddiqui said not every promising opportunity was necessarily right for a company at a particular stage of its growth, particularly when the financial commitment was substantial.

"There are many good opportunities, but may not be suitable for the business at that stage. For example, the capital commitment may be too big for businesses."

Taking the discussion further, Charles Yardley, CEO of Khaleej Times, asked Siddiqui what CEOs might fundamentally misunderstand about the expectations placed on finance chiefs today.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Khaleej Times Business. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.