The CFO has to maintain a close relationship to company stakeholders. The CFO might be the person who is most in contact with the BoD, investors, financial analysts, the media, distributors and retailers, suppliers, tax authorities, and external auditors, as well as in charge of managing customer relationships. Certainly, CFOs are under great pressure, scrutiny and accountability from most of the above mentioned players, which are cconstantly demanding information from the CFO. Everyone believes that the CFO is the “super brain” of the company. The CFO needs to know the market share of product A, the sales volume from the previous year and previous quarter, the margin of product A, the marketing investment, the Net Income from the last five years, as well as the PRIME and LIBOR interest rates, among many other indicators.

Shall the CFO know the answer to all of the above questions? I might say…..Yes, to most of them. There are companies with particular cultures where it is valid for a manager to say, “No, I do not have the answer, but I will get back to you A.S.A.P.” However, other company cultures do not allow “I do not know” for an answer.

CFOs are the most important financial leaders in the organization. They need to have the criteria and tact to communicate properly all of the financial and operating aspects of the company to third parties. CFOs should guard secrecy of company activities and future endeavors. In many cases, these possible questions from externals should be reviewed by the CEO, Public Relations staff or Legal Affairs in advance. In first place, it is very important to communicate relevant information properly to the marketplace, and secondly, to have all senior management aligned with regards to company issues and initiatives.