The new CFO role: it's in the DNA; The finance function now plays an increasing role in key decisions related to the business model and configuration of the business portfolio. Indeed, a new survey confirms that today's CFO responsibilities are akin to those of the CEO.

• Author: Couto, Vinay
• Position: Chief financial officer, chief executive officer

Describing today's financial executives as accountants and bean counters is as off-the-mark as walking into your local Starbucks and ordering a coffee in "small, medium or large." Over the past five to seven years, senior financial executives--beginning with CFOs--and their functional organizations have evolved well beyond the traditional roles of accountants and organizational police to become valued analysts and strategic business partners to senior management.

This has been such a complete transition that in many quarters it has gone unnoticed, yet it represents a major shift in terms of running business organizations of many sizes. Finance has become a place where business strategy, process and information combine and cross-pollinate.

Take a good look at your own organization, and you'll likely see finance involved in key decisions involving the design of the overall business model, as well as the configuration of the business portfolio.

Finance plays a role in developing responsive management architectures and governance structures, and is increasingly serving as a key integrator across the organization of process, technology and people. This is far different from the portfolio of the CFO and his or her direct reports just a decade ago. In fact, if you note these responsibilities are more akin to what you might expect of the chief executive officer, you're onto something.

A recent Booz Allen study looking into the "Organizational DNA" of business entities identified three main facts related to the finance function: 1) It was more tightly aligned internally than other support functions--human resources, information technology and marketing; 2) It tended to view business challenges in a similar way to senior management; and 3) It tracked more closely with line managers than other support functions in key areas.

Together, this supports a major evolution of the finance function--from analyst to catalyst. It also supports the much-evolved role of the CFO within the organization. In many cases, today's CFO serves as a chief lieutenant of the organization, particularly as the CEO is required to spend more time with the board of directors and the chief operating officer role continues to diminish in numbers and importance. The survey data demonstrate that finance is uniquely positioned to carry out this task.

We may or may not have entered the "Era of the CFO," but it is clear, both qualitatively and based on quantitative efforts, that the CFO and the CFO's organization have risen greatly in stature and responsibility. The CFO has DNA very similar to that of the CEO, and has built an organization that works from a similar viewpoint and understands the needs of the operating units in some very important ways. Whether this has helped drive the elevation of the CFO position or is a function of that evolution--or a...