The role of the CFO has expanded significantly over the past decade. No longer is the CFO simply the head accountant or "number cruncher" of the company. Today's CFO occupies a strategic role as a key decision maker and advisor to the CEO and Board.

As a CFO advisor with over 25 years of experience, I've witnessed this evolution firsthand. The modern CFO can't just report financial data - they must interpret and analyze it to provide insights that drive growth. And with technology automating more accounting tasks, CFOs have more capacity to spend time on forward-looking strategic initiatives.

Some of the key responsibilities of the 21st century CFO include:

- Analyzing financial performance and presenting trends, opportunities and risks to the executive team
- Developing financial models and forecasting to guide strategic decisions on investments or new initiatives
- Assessing and pursuing options for funding growth, whether through lending, equity financing or other capital sources
- Providing guidance on potential mergers and acquisitions, including valuation, due diligence and deal structure
- Overseeing budgeting, audit and internal controls to minimize risk and maintain compliance
- Driving operational efficiency by identifying waste, lowering costs and improving financial processes
- Partnering with department heads across HR, Sales, Marketing and others to optimize financial performance

While still overseeing accounting, reporting and treasury, today's CFO is in a prime position to drive company-wide strategy and lead key transformations. They complement the CEO by bringing financial acumen that helps achieve growth objectives and build long-term shareholder value.

The CFO role will only become more strategic and influential. As your CFO advisor, I stay on the leading edge of this evolution so I can best guide clients to take advantage of it. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you want to discuss how a strategic CFO can take your company to the next level.