The Role of the Financial Manager

CFO to CEO
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Introduction
There is no a real definite answer to whether chief financial officers (CFOs) really make good chief executive officers (CEOs) and if finance departments are the best place to train future CEOs. This is because there are clear advantages and disadvantages when a decisions to graduate a CFO to CEO are made by the management of a company. One of the emerging trends that has been witnessed in corporations over the past couple of years since the times of recession and financial crisis that has affected many companies is an increase of CFOs being hired in the positions of CEOs. It is important to note that a successful CEO will not only require a good understanding on financial matters.
Pros and Cons of promoting CFOs to CEOs
The CFO possesses many notable pros as well as cons when hired to the position of a CEO. A company can benefit from a CEO with CFO background because first they have a well-grounded knowledge of the day-to-day financial outlook of the company as well as how to manage it. They also have a good understanding of various financial laws and how such laws affect the company. Based on their vast experience on diverse financial matters, they are able to handle the financial capital and be instrumental in making capital budgeting decisions that are good for business. CFOs are responsible for overseeing all the financial and account functions of the company as well as in formulating sound financial plans and policies. It is also important to note that CFO have direct supervisory mandates to other financial managers such as the credit managers, financial controllers and insurance managers among others. This equips them with basic management skills (Brewis, 1999).
A competent CEO has to be a leader with an ability to anticipate the future trends of the business, inspiring to his followers to understand the company’s new possibilities, and motivating to followers to embrace the vision of the company. He should have the ability to solicit inputs, be open minded and possess excellent communications skills who can encourage contrary thinkers to keep creative arguments going until a sound decision is reached. A CEO must be able to express a high degree of understanding, information and instructions that are desirable to ensure the efficacy of the organization (Barak, 2011).
He must also be able to manage and balance the various roles of his juniors to implement an effective workplace while still not deviating from the primary vision of the organization. A successful CEO is the one who is a visionary, daring, inspiring, ethical, and is a thoughtful thinker when it comes to interaction between stakeholders, technology, culture, and other external environmental forces. The CFO of promoting the CFO to CEO vast knowledge on various financial issues of the company while the cons of making that decision is that they may not have the leadership and communication skills that are very...