Finance / Accounting
Chief Financial Officer
Overview
A CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, is a senior executive responsible for managing the financial actions of a company. The CFO’s duties include tracking cash flow and financial planning as well as analyzing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing corrective actions. Their role is critical in strategizing investments, capital structure, and long-term financial planning to support the company’s growth and sustainability.
According to onet, 46% of CFO’s own a master’s degree, 32% have bachelor’s degree and 5% have associate’s degree.
Common tasks
| Task | Related trait(s) |
|---|---|
| Direct or coordinate an organization’s financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency. | Business acumen |
| Confer with board members, organization officials, or staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems. | Effective listening Persuasive Communication |
| Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding or implementation of programs. | Mathematical Proficiency Attention to detail |
| Prepare or present reports concerning activities, expenses, budgets, government statutes or rulings, or other items affecting businesses or program services. | Financial Linguistic Acumen |
| Implement corrective action plans to solve organizational or departmental problems. | Business acumen |
Soft skills measured by TraitForward
| Trait | No of Questions | Cronbach’s alpha (α) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inclusive in leadership | 8 | 0.72 | |
| Do they operate according to the principles of fairness and equality? | |||
| Integrity | 8 | 0.71 | |
| Are they moral, honest, do they follow the rules? | |||
| Financial Linguistic Acumen | 5 | 0.72 | |
| Are they adept at interpreting complex financial texts for informed decision-making? | |||
| Fluency of ideas | 7 | 0.76 | |
| Can they generate a lot of different ideas? | |||
| Mathematical Proficiency | 8 | 0.73 | |
| Are they numerically literate? | |||
| Attention to detail | 9 | 0.78 | |
| Do they ensure precision and thoroughness in their financial management? | |||
| Business acumen | 9 | 0.72 | |
| Are they effective at leveraging market insights? | |||
| Persuasive Communication | 9 | 0.83 | |
| How effectively can they engage and motivate others? | |||
| Effective listening | 8 | 0.71 | |
| Do they understand others? | |||
| Team synergy | 9 | 0.72 | |
| Are they effective team players? | |||
Did you Know?
Source: US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics
Median wage:
$500,090 / per year
$480.12 / hour
A relatively low annual wage is $408,594 (25th percentile)
A relatively high salary of the annual wage is $898,653 (70th percentile)
Expected employment growth:
Number of professionals occupied in US in 2022: 280K
Projected number of professionals occupied in US in 2031:257K
Find out the psychometric properties for the Chief Financial Officer Traitforward questionnaire