From Number Cruncher to Strategic Leader: How Modern CFOs Are Mastering Cross-Functional Roles

person at desk crunching numbers between printouts and laptop

Although the duties and responsibilities of the CFO and the finance team may appear to be the same on paper, in reality, they are rapidly evolving. Today’s finance team works across multiple disciplines and functional areas to provide cross-functional support for human resources, IT, sales, operations, and customer care centers. The reality is that financial leaders need to better understand a broad range of business disciplines to provide expert leadership and guidance for their organizations.

Why the Role of the CFO and Finance Is Changing

A McKinsey survey demonstrates the broad range of roles reporting to the CFO. These roles include everything from procurement to investor relations. More important than the breadth of the roles is the fact that the depth is changing too; it’s not just reporting lines but interaction that is increasing. The CFO must now be conversant in everything from the organization’s digital strategy to how it procures supplies.

This change reflects the growing awareness that in business, nothing occurs in isolation. Many factors contribute to an organization’s ability to make margin. Increasing margins may mean increasing gross revenues (while holding expenses steady) or it may mean decreasing expenses (while maintaining gross revenues). To help improve the organization’s revenues, for example, the CFO and finance team must understand the nuances of each service and program area, what is delivered, to whom, and the prices charged. All of this used to be the sole domain of either the program manager, the marketing manager, or both, but today, the finance team must understand it as well, to add to the conversation and provide guidance.

Cross-Functional Finance: How Finance Interacts with Each Department

Here’s why finance has become the cross-functional “go to” team—and why the CFO and finance leaders must work across teams with each department. Here are three examples:

  • Human Resources: Salaries and benefits are often the biggest expense on the balance sheet. Therefore, it makes sense to consult with finance when discussing staffing. Understanding both current and future plans, as well as the skill sets needed now and in the future, are all conversations that finance should be part of from the start.
  • IT (Technology): IT used to make all the decisions about the platforms the company needs but when choosing a nonprofit accounting platform, finance should be actively involved in the process, along with representatives from other departments. Additionally, the potential for financial data to be exposed in a data breach is a shared concern of both finance and IT. The two departments must work closely together on IT plans, continuity planning, cyber security defenses, and more.
  • Sales and Marketing: The finance team can help sales and marketing assess the profitability of donor campaigns. They can also provide added insight into pricing, budget allocation, and other areas.

Other departments, including customer service and operations, can also benefit from finance’s inputs.

Preparing Your Cross Functional Finance Team

To prepare your department to become a cross-functional finance team, you’ll need to make some adjustments. During the hiring process, look for applicants who may have cross-discipline skills. Such experience indicates an applicant with a flexible approach to finance, one who may already have ideas about how to collaborate with their counterparts in other departments.

Next, pave the way by making time for higher-level, collaborative work. This means using the automations built into your current accounting and finance platform (or looking for new software that includes these features). AI offers excellent potential to automate many tasks, including preparing first drafts of financial statements and audit reports. Automatic routing of messages, invoicing, approval notifications, and similar repetitive tasks can also save considerable time. Work with your team to determine which routine tasks take up the most time and which can be automated. This will free up time for more cross-functional collaboration.

Although there’s no one-size-fits all approach to the role of the finance team, CFOs and financial department personnel form an important leadership group within an organization. Their knowledge of financial data, combined with business acumen, can guide an organization into new areas of growth and potential.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information.