Financial Management: Providing a Foundation for Transition - AGA

18Some CFOs report success in reducing workloadby changing the structure of support services. Forexample, centralizing accounting activities oncedone in field offices to a single site has reducedone entity’s accounting workload by 10 percent,says its CFO.Finally, CFOs do not have to go it alone. Saysone executive, “I don’t know how many timesI’ve been approached by CFOs who say theyhave personnel problems, yet they haven’tdiscussed it with their chief human capitalofficers!” Teamwork among all CxOs should beregular, not sporadic.Lines of authority are less important than a relationship of trustbetween an organization’s CFO and chief executive.LeadershipA search for the word “leader” in the notes ofour interviews with executives often finds it nearterms like vision, strategy, planning, communicate,influence and change. When they commentedon leadership, our executive respondentsmost often were looking upward toward agencychiefs and departmental secretaries. Some complainof lack of support from the very top, whileothers simply say “They just don’t understand.”Looking up to the executives in the in-personsurvey, non-executive respondents to our onlinesurvey cited these leaders for lack of directionand decision making, and for poor planning.Executives interviewed think that the tenureof some CFOs is too short for them to makemuch difference to their organizations. Otherssay that some new CFOs did not understandgovernment accounting and financial managementwhen they started, and a few CFOs evenadmitted to this.Finally, many CFOs say that they do not yethave a seat at the table of top executive leaders.Because of this, they lack influence in creatingand planning entity strategy and have less abilityto persuade others to recognize the importanceand utility of sound financial information.CFO leadership attributesRespondents said that attributes of a federalCFO depend on what the specific entity positionrequires and the environment. For example,if an entity wants to improve its accounting andfinancial systems, then a new CFO may needstrong systems skills. If an entity is highly politicalor undergoing major change, then its CFO’s relationshipto Congress is also very important.There is one exception: across the board, CFOsmust have excellent relationships with their chiefexecutives (e.g., agency chief, administrator ordepartmental secretary). By law, CFOs coveredunder the CFO Act report directly to their chiefexecutives. However, such a line of authority isless important than a relationship of trust betweenan entity’s CFO and chief executive. This relationshipenables the CFO to influence decisions at thetop regardless of legal reporting authority.Executives in the survey say that other attributesa CFO should have include the following.Mastery of human resources. Human capitalproblems in the financial management communityare severe, so a CFO has to be a masterat finding, retaining and training the rightpersonnel. Most of all, the CFO must be ateam builder.Understanding and experience with the federalbudget process. In government, budget is king,so it is important for new CFOs to understand thegovernment’s budget process, say respondents. Says