Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

The chief financial officer (CFO) is the seniormost executive official within a company, government agency, or other organization to have responsibily for managing the entity’s financial affairs, including the direction of its financial and managerial accounting and control functions and often its treasury functions. He or she oversees the recording, analysis, and reporting of financial information internally and externally; administers the organization’s system of internal accounting control; counsels its leadership on financial matters; and represents the organization to external auditors, tax and financial regulatory authorities, capital market participants, contracting entities, and the public.

The complex regulatory frameworks that govern the work of a CFO and his or her organization call for (a) principled leadership in conformity with relevant financial, legal, and ethical standards and the organization’s ...