Commentary: Inside the Mind of the CFO

by Cesar Bacani, 04 January 2010

0 comments

Facebook

Digg

Twitter

topics:
Management Professional Development

tags:
Akai business outlook case studies cost-cutting credit collection Ernst & Young expense management risk management

One of the most fascinating things about doing an e-newsletter is the instant feedback writers and editors get from readers. You get to know which articles and subject matter are the most-read over a given period of time by the number of hits they accumulate.

But why should you be interested in what your fellow CFOs are reading?

It is useful, I think, to be aware of what your peers as a group are thinking about and where they are focusing their energies. If everyone is focusing on risk management, say, and you are not, you may be putting your company at a competitive disadvantage. And you may find yourself being left behind as your peers acquire new insights and knowledge.

Cost-Cutting

There are many insights that we at CFO Innovation have learned about what’s in the mind of CFOs in Asia since the fourth quarter of 2009, when we started this publication. One is that senior finance executives are keeping a laser focus on cost-cutting and expense management. Among the most-read articles in 2009 were Cost Cutting: The CFO Check-Up (Part One), Positioning for Growth: The CFO Check Up (Part Two), and Decision Support: The CFO Check-Up (Final Part).

This series was capped by an interview with Edmund Lee, partner, advisory services, at PricewaterhouseCoopers, who predicted that, going forward, “there will be even more emphasis around efficiency. There will be more emphasis on compliance and control, around tracking costs and making sure expenditures are proper and comply with the rules.” Lee also expects higher expectations around insight, including business partnering and faster and better information in finance.

But for the Grace of God . . .

We also find great interest among CFOs in what I think of as there-but-for-the-grace-of- God stories. The single most-read article in the year just past is Ernst & Young’s Akai Debacle, which analyses the legal troubles of accounting firm Ernst & Young arising from its audit of bankrupt Hong Kong company Akai Holdings. The companion pieces were also hot reads, including the latest update in October, Will Ernst & Young’s Akai Settlement Unravel?

I don’t think it’s schadenfreude – I don’t think finance professionals take personal enjoyment from the missteps and misfortunes of accounting firms and other CFOs. I believe it’s more sympathy with the travails of finance professionals in circumstances that their peers know they can easily find themselves in. I think our readers are also driven by the desire to find out exactly what happened in order to draw lessons that may help them avoid getting embroiled in similar situations.

Two other very popular articles, When the CFO Resigns and When the Accountant Disappears, are in the same vein. (Apologies for the whodunit mystery novel headlines; we couldn’t resist). Both are Greek tragedies of a sort, featuring a finance professional, as protagonist, faced with temptation and getting caught in the web of choices he may or hopefully may not regret. Read (or re-read) them and ponder.

White Papers

Positioned very highly on the list of most-read articles is a research report, CFO Innovation Asia Business Outlook Survey: Fourth Quarter 2009. It is by far the most downloaded white paper from the CFO Innovation online library.

This is a no-brainer. CFOs need to know what the future holds before it becomes the present, although there is no fool-proof way of finding out. One good route, though, is to find out how CFOs as a group think about the future, and this is what our quarterly business outlook survey aims to do.

Comment on this article

Accounting and Regulations

CFO innovation Asia Accounting and Regulation the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Accounting Regulation, IFRS, US GAAP, Tax, investor relations, corporate governance, Corporate Law, Financial Regulators, Internal Audit, Audit, Corporate Law.

Auditing, Investor Relations, Law and Compliance, Tax

Finance and Banking

CFO innovation Asia, Finance and Banking the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Corporate Finance, trade finance, treasury and risk management, capital expenditure, Banking, mergers and acquisitions

Cash and Liquidity Management, Corporate Finance, Insurance, Treasury Management

Management

CFO innovation Asia the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Finance Management, Corporate Governance, Human Resource Management, Compensation and Benefits, Mergers and Acquisitions, Professional Development, Corporate Real Estate, Risk Management, Budgeting and Forecasting, Business Process Management, Business Process Reengineering, Outsourcing.

Budgeting and Planning, Business Expense Management, Human Capital Management, Outsourcing and Shared Services, Risk Management

Metrics

Corporates, Financial Services

Technology

CFO innovation Asia Technology the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Finance Systems, Business Intelligence, EPR, Accounting software, CRM, Cloud Computing, Telecommunications, Business Process Outsourcing, Business Process Management Software.

Business Intelligence, Enterprise Software and Systems, Financial Systems, Security

CFO innovation ASIA