Promoting Financial Officers to Executive Officers

The chief financial officers and the chief executive officers are some of the two most important positions that determine the success of any corporate. The duty of the CFO is to ensure that the finances of the corporate are better used in positive income-generating activities while adhering to the accounting standards and the security and exchange laws. The CEO, on the other hand, is the person in charge of implementing the organization’s vision and mission by leading his employees. There are various advantages of promoting the CFO to be a CEO. First, the CFO knows the financial requirement of the corporate department and knows what departments need extra resources. As a result, he will know which areas to revamp allocation if elevated.

Secondly, the CFO deals with external parties and will therefore be well conversant in dealing with them if promoted to be a CEO. As a CFO, one attends to suppliers, attends directors’ meetings, and is in constant touch with the financial institution. The CFO will therefore have the skills required in dealing with stakeholders when promoted. CFO’s wider knowledge is also a justification for the promotion.

On the contrary, there are several cons for promoting a CFO into a CEO. The CFO lacks the production requirements and may not be able to manage the production processes efficiently. Most CFOs also lack the communication skills that are necessary for marketing the company’s product and production, a duty that must be performed by the position holder. Moreover, most CFOs deal with finances and therefore lack the skills of managing people, and they will thus not be good team leaders when elevated, i.e., the CFO’s lacks a wider perspective of the corporation.