The "Swiss Army CFO" Now Responsible for Environmental Impact, Global Expansion, IPO Readiness

According to the “Swiss Army CFO” report, 99% of CFOs agree their role has become more complex in the last two years. One in three CFOs see Global expansion as their primary goal in 2021 and beyond, and one in four cite ownership for their company’s very important Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals as a transformative responsibility.

Adding to the role’s complexity, most CEOs surveyed see the road to an IPO as the primary charge of their company’s CFO. That’s according to a new survey of C-suite executives and corporate finance teams in the US by Tipalti, a global provider of payables automation technology.

Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability was cited by almost a third of CFOs as one of the issues they think will have the most impact on the future of their profession, outranking issues such as AI/machine learning and global trade. In a separate question, most CFOs said that if they could go back to school to study one thing, it would be “environment and sustainability”.

Preparation for IPO

Almost a quarter of CEOs said that the ability to analyze data and IPO readiness of the company is one of the most important qualities for a successful CFO today, compared to five years ago. Also, more than one in five CEOs said that “accelerate path to IPO” was the top priority for their CFO in 2021 and beyond. More than one-fifth of CFOs surveyed agreed that an IPO was their top priority.

“A company that is planning to go public needs to make sure they take care of all dimensions and facets of the business,” said Mohammad Hasham, Director, Technical Accounting, IPO Services, SPACs at BDO USA, LLP. “This will include accounting and reporting, treasury, tax, internal controls and audit, financial planning and analysis, media and investor relations, governance, legal and compliance, compensation and HR, and enterprise risk management.”

Global expansion

Almost a third of CFOs (30%) put international expansion at the top of the list of dynamic new responsibilities in the last two years, making this the most popular choice out of eleven options. “Helping the business grow internationally” outranked options such as “finance, planning and budgeting” and coming in as the top choice from a selection of 13 options. In addition, more than one in five CEOs said this was a top priority for their CFO.

“Our survey shows that modern, high-growth companies are looking to the office of the CFO to affect positive change for the long term, on multiple fronts,” said Sarah Spoja, Chief Financial Officer at Tipalti. “Clearly, forward-looking companies must be good stewards of the environment, include global perspectives throughout the organization, and provide shareholder value. These are all important, big-picture goals that can only be achieved through measurable, sustainable results. So it makes perfect sense that the chief measurer – the CFO – take ownership of them.”

Survey methodology

The research was conducted by Censuswide, with three samples; 353 CFOs & members of the finance team at midsize (250-1,000 employees) at technology companies, 350 18+ CEOs at midsize technology companies, and 350 18-35-year-olds, young professionals in finance roles, recent college graduates and soon to be graduates (finance undergrads) in the US between July 21, 2021 through August 2, 2021. The survey was conducted from a nationally representative of US adults. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

To see the full report, please visit https://tipalti.com/cfo-priorities-survey-pr/