Financial Management: Providing a Foundation for Transition - AGA

19one, “CFOs entering from the private sector willbe shocked at how many government resourcesare consumed fighting for basic funding, and thatfinancial information plays such a limited role indecision making.” Still, CFOs must understandthe connection between budgeting and financialmanagement and become skilled in sellingthe budget to Congress and other stakeholders.Fighting for their own CFO budget will be difficult,because Congress tends to appropriate fundsfor programs but not for overhead functions.Accounting acumen. While government CFOsdo not have to be certified public accountants, sayseveral executives, they need to understand theimportance and use of accounting skills and information.Some respondents say that CFOs wholack this understanding tend to neglect that side oftheir business, which suffers from their inattention.Business intelligence. Program managers canuse good financial and performance information,say survey participants. Therefore, a toppriority for CFOs is the ability to understand thebusiness information needs of program managersand the best way to provide this intelligence. Inaddition, CFOs should have an entity-wide perspectivebecause they may be working in a worldof stovepipes.Skills in selling. Other CFO attributes thatexecutives mentioned include being a goodnetworker and communicator up, down andacross the hierarchy, to peer entity chiefs, CxOs,Congress and stakeholders. A large part of thegovernment CFO job is to sell: the budget toCongress, internal control to program managers,the need for change to financial managementstaff and the benefits of integrated financialand performance information to everyone.Being a communicator also means theCFO should be able to “. . . have difficult conversations,because the CFO brings both goodand bad news,” says an executive.If CFOs make it a priority to add value to entities’ mainmissions, then they are more likely to be heard by top leaders.Other leadersThe deputy. We should not neglect the secondmost important position in the financial community:the deputy chief financial officer (DCFO).Says a longtime CFO with experience in defenseand civilian entities, “The DCFO is the CFO’skey player because she or he handles the operationalissues. It is important to have a careerdeputy in this position, someone who thoroughlyunderstands the organization and its issues.”Entity chiefs. If accounting, finance and metricsare irrelevant to Congress, then so is the CFO.This does not go unnoticed by the heads of agenciesand departments, who may be equally guiltyof inattention to important issues of financialmanagement. The way to deal with the problem,according to executive respondents, is for CFOsto buy into and support the executive agendaand get along with the top leader. If CFOsmake it a priority to add value to entities’main missions, then they are more likelyto be heard by top leaders.