The role of Chief Financial Officers (CFO) continues to evolve, says a new study by Ernst & Young (E&Y).

E&Y’s recently released report, titled ‘The evolving role of today’s CFO’, showed that while CFOs continue to closely manage cash flow, costs and risk, they are increasingly contributing and executing corporate strategy.  

Key findings from this research have direct implications for positioning solutions with customer CFOs:

To fulfill their expanded job descriptions, today’s CFOs must be versatile and capable of addressing continually changing circumstances.

• How can you aid CFOs with information about where their business is going, enabling them to contribute beyond financial planning and analysis?   
• How you can help them get there more quickly? 

CFOs are expected to ensure business decisions are financially grounded, but they further need to provide strategic insights and analysis to other executives and stakeholders.

• How could you leverage successes with other accounts as input for CFOs to develop an organizational strategy?
• How you help CFOs measure and communicate progress on strategic goals to external stakeholders?

CFOs now have a growing influence in enabling operations.

• How can you help translate your solutions into operational success that CFO’s can share with internal audiences?
• What metrics make sense to measure your solution’s impact on increased productivity, or stronger operational controls?

As the role and requisite skills of CFOs continue to evolve, new selling windows open.  Sales professionals capable of engaging in credible business conversation will find a whole new set of opportunities.