The US Bank report* recapping their annual  survey of senior finance leaders, Leading the Return to Growth,  concludes CFOs are getting better at,

• Balancing  conflicting priorities
• Controlling costs
• Investing in new technology
• Mitigating risks   
• Improving customer experiences

But the report also  states CFOs have a long way to go, and they’ll need new skills to meet their objectives.   This is where CFO.University can help.

In the coming weeks this series of newsletters will highlight the key findings from  the US Bank Survey, followed by resources finance leaders can use to capture the opportunity. 

Part I - Growth with Offense and Defense

Finance faces a delicate balancing act.

There’s a greater focus on costs threatening growth. Cost control is finance leaders’ top priority: 44% say cutting costs and driving efficiencies in the finance function is a top priority, which is up six percentage points from 2023 and almost double the proportion in 2021. Their second-highest priority is cutting costs across the business. But growth is still important.  No company has ever saved its way to prosperity.   We need growth. 

Let’s start with defense (cost control)

“Leaning Up” the Finance Department shares how the ‘Lean movement in manufacturing operations has also been adopted by finance teams to eliminate waste, deliver more valuable information to decision makers and improve outcomes.  

“The ultimate objective of this tool is to help you create a Lean Office - creating better and faster outputs that include more insights from your team’s effort.” - CFO.University

In his piece, Achieving True Cost Transformation , Peter Chisambara CPA, ACMA ra, warns executives embarking on cost transformation to link the exercise to business strategy among the other lessons he shares.

“Many organizational cost transformation initiatives fail to deliver lasting gains because they are often implemented in isolation without the context of the broader strategy of the business. … gainful cost transformation is linked to strategy and drives the effective execution of that strategy.”  - Peter Chisambara

For many accounting and finance teams the middleware between transaction processing and delivering valuable information to decision-makers is the financial closing process.   If this process is slow, error filled and inefficient you can bet the output from our accounting and finance teams will be too.   Applying Lean concepts and a Process Redesign to our closing process is frequently one of the most significant steps finance leaders can take in your goal to improve costs AND deliver more value to the business.

Bill Denney, CPA 's piece, Achieving a Month End Close in One Day, is a great place to gather ideas on how to significantly improve your closing process.  

“  Achieving a month end close in one day – a big step in transforming your finance team.” - Bill Denney

Nancy Wu’s library at CFO.University includes all kinds of material to improve your close.  For example,   Happily Ever After - Achieving a Fairy Tale Month-End Close ,   You won’t want to miss it.

“A month-end close that achieves a fairy tale ending is forged through discipline, teamwork, and the right tools.”   - Nancy Wu

Now it's time to play Offense (growth)

As the US Bank report notes, the CFOs role has been expanding.  Most of that expansion is taking place above the gross margin line; either impacting sales growth or supply chain costs. This recent article from the Future of Finance Leadership,   Managing Job Creep in the CFO Role , highlights the areas where the CFO responsibilities are growing. 

On CFO Talk a number of guests who are experts in the pricing arena, have shared their opinions on how CFOs and their team can improve pricing in their businesses.    

In this CFO Talk, Pricing Excellence and the CFO with Lynn Guinn , the Strategic Global Pricing leader at Cargill, Lynn teaches how CFOs can create pricing excellence by having their team deeply involved in the pricing process, inspiring better pricing decisions.   He gets into the details of KYC and customer segmentation as critical components of a pricing strategy.   

"Decisions create dollars. That's how you make money, you make better decisions." - Lynn Guinn

Anne Warren , Founder of Price Profitability Advisors, discusses the pricing pyramid and how CFOs fit into it in episode of CFO Talk, The CFO Pricing Pyramid with Anne Warren .  Anne identifies having ‘clean’ data around customer activity and margins is critical to an effective pricing strategy and view finance as a key partner in securing that high value data. 

"We keep talking about how clean data really enables an organization to affect change, but also as a pricing person and having done pricing for many years, It really comes down to the partnership between finance and pricing." - Anne Warren

For more on the CFO and pricing visit the libraries of Mark Stiving and Paul Barnhurst.  

When it comes to improving margins, pricing isn’t the only area where the influence of the CFO is growing.   Supply chain costs, including raw materials, shipping and handling are also benefiting from the insights provided by the CFOs FP&A teams.   Here are some ideas to inspire your team from having a bigger impact on your supply chain.

The article, In a Volatile Economy, Purchasing Practices Need to Change , explains 3 critical areas CFOs must develop to thrive in today’s business environment.   Best of all,  it provides tips on how to develop each one.  

“ To compete in our global economy businesses must adapt their risk, hedging and margin management systems to today’s environment”  - Steve Rosvold

In what additional ways can accounting and finance teams help their procurement departments?  This question is answered in Raw Materials: Are You “Buying Right”? , which includes a checklist to what is required to make sound purchasing decisions. 

“ …when you implement a sound buying process, you can give your business the advantage it needs to “buy right,” mitigating risk and ensuring your business is well-positioned—and well-stocked—to meet demand and maintain profitability. ” - Steve Rosvold

The CFOs leadership role includes affecting positive change in you business.  If this sentence resonates with you, “For many companies, the procurement department and the sales staff might as well speak different languages.” , don’t miss the lessons in this article, Why Your Procurement Staff and Sales Department Must Work Together

A recent piece by Nathan Bell ,  Beyond Procurement: Why Vendor Optimization is a CFO’s Secret Weapon , shows how CFOs can help crate a vendor optimization program that is often overlook by the Procurement team.   Nathan shares the benefits of a vendor optimization program and its key ingredients. 

“Investing in vendor optimization is an investment in your company’s future. It will unlock significant cost savings, improve performance, and achieve your financial objectives.” - Nathan Bell

A supply chain risk assessment provides an overview of how well your business understands and manages the key risks in your supply chain. CFO.University offers a high level, brief Supply Chain Risk Assessment Tool whose format makes it an excellent tool to use for educational and improvement meetings.

Two of our Contributors focus on the CFO and the Supply Chain. Their libraries are a great visit if you and finance team want to grow your impact,

• Jason Lockard Sr. Vice President Enterprise at BlueGrace Logistics
• Rick Pay Operational and Supply Chain Leader

Conclusion - Part I

As CFOs continue to navigate the complex balance between cost control, growth, and risk management, the insights from the US Bank report emphasize that their roles are evolving beyond traditional finance functions. By adopting lean practices, optimizing pricing strategies, and enhancing supply chain efficiency, finance leaders can significantly impact their organizations’ growth trajectories.

CFO.University is committed to equipping these leaders with the tools and resources necessary to excel in this shifting landscape, providing practical insights on both offensive and defensive strategies. As the series progresses, we’ll explore how CFOs can further strengthen their leadership and drive sustainable growth.

* US Bank CFO Report, Leading the Return to Growth

Post Script

Thank you for subscribing to the Future of Finance Leadership. The objective of the newsletter is to help you grow professionally by making you, your team & your business better. To the extent it is doing that, please share it liberally. To the extent it is not, please let me know. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

All the Best,

Steve Rosvold

Chief Learning Officer, CFO.University

CFO.University is a convenient, practical and performance enhancing development platform for CFO's, FDs, accounting, finance and treasury leaders.

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