As roles change, ‘CFOs must come out of comfort zone’

Today, the CFO’s role has evolved into that of a catalyst and strategist driving business expansion, revenue generation, and, most importantly, wealth creation, said Porus Doctor, CFO, Program Leader, Deloitte India.

Speaking at the CII’s Annual CFO Conference, Doctor said Chief Financial Officers need to come out of their comfort zones and be a strategist for their organisations. “A CFO should play a key role in shaping the future of the company and making the company future-ready.” He stressed the need for CFOs to understand the “digital revolution and its potential to anticipate a trend accurately and manage effectively.”

He further said that it is important for CFOs to identify the skill-sets required and a finance-talent strategy that supports the broader strategies of the company. According to him, CFOs should ensure robust talent is available in the organisation to evolve with the changing needs.

Narendar Pani, Economist, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, delivering the keynote address, said that CFOs cannot focus entirely on strategy at a time when they are facing issues of demonetisation and GST. There is pressure on the CFO to look at the immediate.

Pani enumerated three fundamental transformations that have taken place in the economy. First, the movement out of agriculture, leading to serious social consequences considering the number of people involved and the dimension of the movement. The proportion of marginal workers (people who don’t get employment for more than six months in a year) has increased substantially in the rural areas.

Second, the urban informality, mainly because many foreign companies have come into the country in the high-end segments and Indian outfits have not been able to compete with them.

Third, the Indian Industry lagging in technological capability to compete in the middle ground, which is occupied by the Chinese.

Pani said there are serious headwinds and these are beginning to buffet India and its relation to the world. In the past the economy was able to ride on global trends, but now “we are beginning to see some divergence,” he said.