The main function of the financial director. CFO

Job description financial director establishes responsibility, functional responsibilities, employee rights. The document contains qualification requirements to the employee, the order of his subordination, appointment to the position and dismissal from it.

Sample CFO Job Description Sample

I. General provisions

1. CFO belongs to the category of leaders.

2. The Financial Director reports directly to the General Director.

3. The dismissal or appointment to the position of financial director is carried out by order of the general director.

4. During the absence of the financial director, his responsibility, functional duties, rights are transferred to another official, as reported in the order for the enterprise.

5. A number of employees are subordinate to the Financial Director: financial managers, analysts, controllers.

6. A person who has higher education with at least five years of experience in a managerial position.

7. The CFO should know:

  • tax, civil, labor, economic legislation;
  • methods of drawing up budgets, plans;
  • organization of financial work at the enterprise;
  • methods for assessing profitability, risk, assets;
  • financial flow management tools;
  • the procedure for lending, attracting investments, allocating resources, determining the effectiveness of investments;
  • procedure for financial settlements;
  • accounting standards.

8. The financial director is guided in his activities by:

  • orders and directives of the management;
  • the Charter of the enterprise;
  • normative legal acts of the Russian Federation;
  • internal work schedule, others regulations enterprises;
  • this job description.

II. Responsibilities of the Financial Director

The Financial Director performs the following functional responsibilities:

1. Manages the financial resources of the enterprise for their most effective use in the course of the company's activities.

2. Analyzes the financial, economic condition of the enterprise.

3. Organizes research and analysis of expenses for the purchase of raw materials, materials, energy consumption, transport costs, trade and other costs.

4. Creates a business plan for the enterprise, controls the execution of budgets and financial plans.

5. Identifies deviations from planned values, develops measures to eliminate non-production costs and factors, to promptly change the budget.

6. Develops the tax budget of the enterprise.

7. Controls the correct spending of funds and the use of credit funds.

8. Analyzes the dynamics of income from the activities of the enterprise, payment of dividends, interest on loans.

9. Examines investment costs, the amount of free funds of the enterprise.

10. Interacts with accounting departments.

11. Prepares financial reports for business leaders and owners.

12. Organize budget planning appoints persons responsible for its implementation.

13. Manages the assets and free cash of the enterprise.

14. Determines the sources of financing for the activities of the enterprise, its investment policy, taking into account the volume of sales of products, the market situation, the technical level of production, and the economic situation.

15. Manages the development of financial accounting standards: reporting forms not approved at the legislative level, information exchange and document management systems.

16. Negotiates with commercial banks, other financial institutions and organizations.

17. Ensures timely execution of financial, settlement, banking operations, receipt of income on time.

18. Promotes timely payment of invoices to suppliers and contractors, repayment of loans, payment of wages transferring payments to banking institutions.

19. Prevents the formation of unused inventory items.

20. Supports financial discipline, increases the profitability of production, compliance of the enterprise with the tax legislation of the Russian Federation.

21. Keeps records of the movement of funds and generates reporting on the results financial activities enterprises in accordance with accounting standards.

22. Promotes the timely transfer of taxes and fees to state budgets, the correct preparation and execution of reporting documentation.

III. Rights

The financial director has the right:

1. Represent the interests of the enterprise in relations with contractors, government bodies on financial matters.

2. Sign documents related to the financial activities of the enterprise.

3. Participate in the preparation of documents.

4. Send instructions to the heads of departments of the enterprise on issues of conducting financial activities.

5. Determine job responsibilities subordinate employees.

7. Submit ideas about personnel changes, proposals for incentives, disciplinary, financial penalties for employees, proposals for improving the work of the enterprise.

8. Require the management of the enterprise to provide the conditions necessary for the fulfillment of its official duties.

IV. Responsibility

The Financial Director is responsible for:

1. Violation of decrees, decisions, other guidance documents enterprises.

2. Improper performance of one's own official duties.

3. Causing material damage to the enterprise, its employees, counterparties, the state.

4. Transfer, disclosure of personal data, trade secret, confidential information.

5. Providing false, inaccurate information to employees of the enterprise.

6. Violation of safety provisions, labor discipline, internal labor regulations, fire protection.

7. Making unauthorized meetings by management, representing the interests of the enterprise.


This position should not be confused with or financial controller. She may not be in staffing. Usually it is created only on large enterprises or in companies whose work is directly related to finance, but there may be exceptions.

The chief financial officer focuses on creating conditions for economic profitability economic activity, verification of tax reporting and general coherence of all structural divisions your company.

The duties of the financial director differ from the duties of the chief accountant primarily in that the former has the ability to direct for specific purposes, and Chief Accountant no such obligation. If he decided to do this, he would exceed his authority.

His duties include:

He also has fairly broad powers in the field of obtaining information. It is within his competence to request any documents and information from the management of all structural divisions. The financial director can independently conduct business correspondence with them, collect, systematize and analyze the data necessary for his work.

The competence of the financial director also includes instructions related to financial turnover, the conclusion of contracts with third parties and the preparation of estimates, the approval of project documentation.

He can give a variety of orders that are related to financial matters, addressed to ordinary employees or heads of various services and structural divisions.

Responsibility of the financial director

In this regard, the CFO differs little from all other employees of the enterprise. He is for improper performance of his official duties. However, regardless of the content employment contract or contract, its degree cannot exceed that provided labor law RF. With the exception of cases that go beyond the scope of civil laws and go into the field of the Criminal Code.

In the event that any offenses are identified, the decision on the degree of responsibility is assumed by the competent authorities, or the case is considered in court, without going beyond Civil Code RF.

CFO salary

The average salary of representatives of this position is largely related to the region and the profile of the company.

In the period of 2016-17, in Moscow it was equal to 180 thousand rubles, and in St. Petersburg it did not exceed 150 thousand. In general, throughout the country, with the exception of the capital or some special regions, it balances at the level of 90 to 120 thousand .rubles

Some personal professional features also affect wages. Among them, experts highlight:

  • "1C" and experience in implementing ERP systems
  • practical experience in budgeting and planning
  • skills in financial management and complex reporting
  • knowledge of the law and regulatory framework, subtleties and
  • communication skills needed for business negotiations
  • ability to master large investments or wisely allocate borrowed funds

The maximum salary level is possible for financial directors who have worked for more than five years in large companies with significant annual turnover. Another positive factor is the development of the company's financial system from scratch or the experience of anti-crisis management.

In the same period, the maximum mark was a salary of 182 thousand rubles in Moscow and 149 thousand in St. Petersburg. For comparison, in Omsk it did not exceed 92 thousand rubles. This is how many specialists who have work experience of 5 years and have proven themselves well get.

At the same time, one should not think that the financial director necessarily receives a lot. If not at all, the employee takes such a position for the first time in his career, then you should not be surprised at a salary of 40 thousand rubles. However, if things go well, then even with three years of experience, the salary is almost never below 75 thousand rubles.

Who is more likely to become a CFO?

Quite often, the position of financial director is occupied by a person who previously worked as a chief accountant or headed some kind of internal financial service within . Another option is to work for a consulting or accounting firm. They also move to this post from the position of chief or leading economist.

Immediately after graduation from the university, it is unlikely that anyone will be trusted. The only exception is a small and medium business who can't pay big salary, but is in need of such an employee.

In addition to the features listed above, the job seeker must have an analytical mindset, the ability to abstract from minor details and high stress resistance. It's no secret that top managers of companies quite often suffer from nervousness or apathy. This leads to the constant need and inadmissibility of errors.

Some disappointment awaits the fair sex. Most of the CFOs in large and growing companies are men. Usually 35 to 45 years old, sometimes older. They are more willing to be offered such a position, because they are considered more dynamic and even adventurous. Namely, such qualities are sometimes required related to the sale of a business or a merger of companies, signing an agreement with an investor and a general entry into the public market.

Some studies show that among the financial directors holding positions there are quite a lot of techies who graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, MISI, and the first education was in no way connected with finance and economics.

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The profession of financial director, as a separate position, appeared relatively recently, about 20 years ago. Previously, his duties were performed by a group of accountants.

Now there is a financial manager in any large company, and not necessarily in a commercial one, it can be state enterprise. This is - one of the highest administrative positions, he manages the cash flow, determines the company's development policy and monitors global trends.

Functions and managerial competencies

The area of ​​activity of the financial director is very extensive, and in addition to cash flow management, he can sometimes engage in recruitment, develop a system of rewards or fines for employees, propose candidates for promotion, participate in the development advertising campaign etc.

Despite this, it can be distinguished main functions.

Managing the company's cash flow, providing it with funds

The chief financial officer must ensure that the company has enough money to keep it afloat. He needs to control whether the company has enough funds to pay bills and taxes, whether they are spent efficiently. If there are debts, then such a company will quickly go bankrupt, and the whole business will go to the bottom.

Business planning

In order for the business not to go bankrupt, it is necessary to coordinate all the activities of the organization. He needs to calculate the cost of goods or services produced, how much goods the company needs to sell, how much taxes and bills need to be paid, etc.

For effective planning, the director will have to negotiate with other management units, for example, with the general manager, director of operations or director of public relations.

Ensuring efficient business conduct

This paragraph refers to the maximum profit of your company, but big profit is just a consequence. The greatest efficiency is achieved when all departments of the organization work with full dedication and interact well with each other.

The task of the finance manager— be well versed in the structure of the company, be competent in all areas of work and production, in order to be able to properly organize the activities of all structures.

Providing the right information

The money question affects not only the accounting departments and the general manager, but also the whole company. Therefore, in all matters relating to money, the CFO is obliged to collect all necessary information and distribute them to all stakeholders so that the company is efficient and does not experience any disruption.

Ensuring financial security

Unfortunately, any effective organization may go bankrupt at any time. The reason for this may be economic crisis, the political situation in the country, fierce competition with other firms.

Director's tasks foresee all risks and prevent bankruptcy of the company.

What is responsible for and who reports to him

As mentioned above, the financial manager has influence on almost all departments of the company, because he plans all the activities of the company and can influence the activities of other structures.

But he has only an indirect influence on them, directly subordinate to him: accounting department, chief accountant, specialists of the financial department and their manager. In case of temporary absence of the CEO, the company's financial manager can take over his duties.

Of the specific actions for which the director is responsible, one can single out the following:

  1. Management of expenses and resources of the company.
  2. Providing an infusion of cash flows into the company, for example, credit or investment finance.
  3. Planning of taxation and repayment of all debts of the company.
  4. Establishment of the current financial policy.
  5. Development of measures to increase profits and efficiency of the company.
  6. Assessment of financial risks.
  7. Drafting financial reporting, document management.
  8. Search for the necessary information related to the funds, providing it to all interested parties.
  9. Management of subordinate departments: financial and accounting departments.
  10. Establishing relationships with the top management of the company.
  11. Information systems management.
  12. Managing the recruitment and dismissal of staff, training and education is possible.

Thus, the area of ​​activity of the financial director is very extensive, and in some force majeure situations, several more functions may be included in his field of activity, for example, public relations, managing the PR department.

Modern requirements and cost of a specialist.

To become a financial manager, you need to get a higher education in one of the specialties: “Banking”, “Enterprise Economics”, “Finance and Credit”, “ Financial management».

Most firms and companies also need significant work experience, from about 3 years of experience, so you need to start with the position of an employee of the financial department, accountant, economist, in the future it will be possible to move up career ladder and get the position of assistant financial manager.

In addition, the applicant for this position will be nominated the following requirements:

  1. Advanced computer proficiency, knowledge of office programs and the ability to use 1C.
  2. Knowledge of the structure of the company, the features of doing business.
  3. Experience with accounting and tax reporting.
  4. Knowledge of tax laws and regulations, knowledge of regulatory documents.
  5. High level in English.
  6. Ability to negotiate with clients, make presentations and conduct meetings.

Salaries can vary greatly between firms and different regions of the country, and seniority also has a great influence. For example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, an employee can receive about 200,000 rubles, and in the provinces - 100,000 rubles.

As you can see from the tables, the spread in the cost of specialists is quite large, in order to earn as much as possible, it is important to have a long work experience, some additional skills will also be useful, for example, experience in building a company from scratch, independent business, additional qualification courses.

In the performance of his official duties, the financial director has the right to:

  1. Personally hire and fire employees under his control, develop a system of rewards and penalties, report to superiors on professional successes or mistakes of specialists.
  2. Require the necessary documentation and information from other structures of the enterprise.
  3. Develop and propose to the authorities activities related to improving the efficiency of the enterprise.
  4. Participate in any accounting reporting documentation, and at any time be able to request the necessary papers.
  5. Report to superiors about violations of the work standards of their employees, demand improvements in working conditions and organizational processes.
  6. Sign financial documents.
  7. Control the workflow associated with the planning and organization of the enterprise.

In addition to the above, under appropriate working conditions, the financial director may be provided with a personal vehicle, the opportunity to go on paid business trips.

The schedule and normalization of the working day are determined in accordance with the internal regulations of the company. In the job description, sometimes a separate item stands out "right to sign": the director of finance is given the right to sign documents related to organizational and administrative issues directly related to finance.

CFO - one of the most important persons of the company therefore, it bears a great responsibility, including for:

  1. Failure to perform their duties or their poor performance.
  2. Exceeding one's powers, using them for personal purposes.
  3. False information about the company's finances.
  4. Failure to comply with safety regulations, violation of the work regime of their subordinates.

For failure to fulfill their duties, the financial director may be brought to administrative, material or criminal liability.

The success of the work is assessed by the amount of profit of the organization controlled by the general director, holding special attestation commissions checking financial documents.

The role of the financial director in the company is described in the video.

Sample job description and resume

The job description specifies the powers, rights and responsibilities, as well as the skills required for the job. In addition, it is indicated that a candidate for a position of this kind must know:

  1. Fundamentals of civil law.
  2. Fundamentals of production technology.
  3. The structure of the enterprise and the features of its work.
  4. Modern trends in information processing and accounting and financial reporting.
  5. Labor protection rules.
  6. Ways to analyze the work of the enterprise and measures to improve the efficiency of work.
  7. World experience in financial management.

The applicant has the right to familiarize himself with his job description and receive all the necessary explanations for each item, as well as agree to make changes in case of disagreement.

For a successful interview, the candidate must provide as much detail as possible about your professional skills: level of education, specialty, work experience in previous companies, management experience own business, all continuing education courses, the level of English, the level of computer proficiency and their business communication skills.

If you have no previous work experience, you can indicate your personal qualities: sociability, stress resistance, competence in financial matters ability to make decisions in difficult situations. These skills can set an applicant apart from other candidates and help them land a CFO position.

In this lecture, you can find the answer to the question - how to become a financial director.

The chief financial officer is one of the top executives in an organization. He rules financial system, cash resources and company reporting. In most cases, the financial manager reports directly to the CEO.

The activities of most commercial and government structures, banking, insurance and investment organizations cannot do without financial directors, industrial enterprises and trading firms.

The position of financial director is one of the key positions in the listed organizations. The position of the company in the market and its financial stability depend on the work of this manager.

The financial director must be aware of strategic goals company, prospects for its development, sources of financing, and use this information to the greatest advantage for the company.

The job of a financial director is highly paid. Effective and efficient managers in this position achieve high levels in their careers. Many of them go on to head firms or create own enterprises having gained sufficient experience in a previous position.

Requirements for candidates

The CFO must have a range of professional knowledge and skills.

The key requirements for these professionals include:

  • the presence of a diploma of graduation from the economic or financial faculties of educational institutions;
  • knowledge of special programs and reporting standards (including Western countries), while specialists with MBA diplomas in the field of financial management are especially valued;
  • knowledge of the basics of tax, audit and accounting;
  • availability of skills in building a strategic planning system;
  • application of an analytical approach to the implementation of tasks;
  • flexibility in decision-making, knowledge of the legal framework.

If the company interacts with foreign partners, an additional requirement for the candidate is knowledge of foreign languages.

Also, a person applying for a relevant position must have at least three years of experience in a related field and negotiation skills.

In each company, the above list of requirements can be supplemented depending on the specifics and direction of work.

Main responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the Financial Director include:

  • management of the organization's cash flows (control of receipts and expenditures, attraction of credit resources, provision of the most effective use funds, tax planning);
  • development of the company's financial policy, interaction with tax authorities;

  • ensuring economic security (analysis of potential risks, their prevention, control of the company's activities in accordance with applicable law);
  • performance of financial and economic analysis of contracts concluded by the organization, preparation of financial statements;
  • coordination of activities of subordinate services (financial and accounting departments of the company);
  • ensuring the capitalization of the organization.

This list is not exhaustive and can be supplemented in each company individually.

Rights and responsibilities

The CFO should represent the interests of the company at various levels.

In this regard, he is vested with the following rights:

  • communication on behalf of the company with representatives of banking, insurance and tax institutions, signing financial documents;
  • taking part in the formation and approval of the list of contracts (purchase and sale, provision of services, obtaining loans, etc.), estimates, instructions and other financial documentation;
  • management and coordination of the activities of financial departments, obtaining information necessary for the performance of their duties.

In addition, the financial director may participate in the development of job descriptions for subordinates, in the hiring and dismissal of employees. He can also make proposals for their bonuses or the application of penalties.

The financial director is responsible for timely settlements with counterparties, tax authorities, as well as for the proper performance of his duties and rational use financial resources organizations.

Features of work

The CFO must be able to analyze a large amount of information that helps him make the right decisions. The effectiveness of its work lies in the organization of competent activities of the company, leading to an increase in its profits.

He must ensure that the company's working financial resources are sufficient to make the necessary payments, pay for raw materials, services and materials, and pay salaries to employees. Ensuring the availability of these resources is one of key tasks financial director.

To do this, he can:

  • predict possible financial flows;
  • attract various borrowed funds;
  • attract investments and perform other actions to provide the company with financial resources.

This specialist should always have a developed long-term plan, he is obliged not only to solve current issues, but also to look at many months ahead. When drawing up such a plan, he must interact with other managers - the general director, the head of commercial and other areas.

In a commercial environment, the position of CFO is clearly considered very influential, as it determines the financial stability of the company and its market position. But there is no unity as to what exactly falls within its competence.

Consider the main provisions of a typical job description of a financial director, explore the nuances of its functionality.

Financial Director - who is he?

The financial director belongs to the top management, he manages the financial flows of the enterprise. It is important to clearly define its functions, since finances - the "circulatory system" of any organization - are directly related to other positions, for example, chief accountant, Executive Director. Many companies even practice combining these positions or work functions.

Unlike other positions related to the firm's cash flow, the CFO coordinates them by forwarding managerial information to other executives. His the main objective– constant concern for the growth of the company's profit, implementation of the relevant policy. To do this, the financial director must be proficient in many commercial tools and act at the moment, taking into account the experience of the past and the potential of the future.

Functions of the financial director

When preparing a job description for a financial director, management often does not quite clearly separate his tasks from the tools with which he must achieve results. So, for example, budget control, financial accounting, credit management, etc. are often recorded in the functions of a financial director. The functions of a financial director are what he must do by applying certain financial instruments to achieve the above stated goal.

There are 5 groups of the main functions of the financial director:

  1. Security entrepreneurial activity finance. Cash are the driving and "nourishing" force of any business. When they are not enough to make the payments necessary for the activity, it is impossible to conduct business: suppliers will not provide raw materials, workers will not work without wages, there is nothing to repair equipment, etc. Even profit in such a situation is secondary, it is important that the enterprise has the opportunity to any time to ensure its current activities. To achieve this goal, the financial director can use the following tools:
    • forecasting financial flows;
    • credit management;
    • attraction of investors, etc.
  2. Designing and ensuring the relationship between the governing structures. Without the effective performance of this function, the achievement of others will be very difficult. It is clear that no one can ensure the profit of the enterprise alone. And since the team acts within the framework of one goal, this activity must be coordinated. Structural divisions for these purposes have direct superiors, who must be “matched” among themselves for the sake of profit just by the financial director.
  3. Concern about the efficiency of the company. It would be wrong to think that the CFO should be concerned about the profits becoming higher. This indicator depends on the efficiency of the enterprise, and it is necessary to increase it by all means. And this refers to the cumulative efficiency in all areas of the company:
    • market research;
    • conducting a marketing policy;
    • implementation of production;
    • accounting and tax reporting;
    • sales of products, etc.
  4. REFERENCE! Roughly speaking, the financial director increases the profit of the enterprise by directing that all employees of the enterprise work well, that is, with maximum efficiency.

  5. Providing the right people with the right information. For an effective management policy, you need to own an array of up-to-date data. Since all planning in the enterprise is ultimately aimed at increasing profits, it is financial information coordinates the results of using all other information flows - marketing, production, accounting, etc.
  6. Ensuring the financial security of the organization. Any business activity has financial risks. The economic "health" of the firm is based on the ability to meet all current financial obligations (see function 1). With the development of the company, additional risks are added related to the market situation, the problem of personnel, etc. The more developed the organization, the large quantity risks may threaten her, but also the more resources she has to overcome them. The CFO does not deal with these problems, but has full information and can assign appropriate tasks to competent persons and monitor execution.

CFO Tools

These are the processes that, as a result of application, can ensure the fulfillment of 5 designated functions. They are most often written in job descriptions as duties.

  1. Management of the company's cash flow:
    • cost control;
    • resource planning;
    • optimization of tax policy.
  2. Strategic financial management: for this, the entire array of financial instruments is used.
  3. Economic security:
    • analysis of financial risks;
    • setting targets for their reduction;
    • control over the activities of authorized persons.
  4. Financial and economic analysis of contracts concluded by the company.
  5. Preparation and control of financial statements.
  6. Managing the financial departments of the organization.
  7. Interaction with the personnel department.
  8. Representation of the company before counterparties.
  9. Public activities, including in the media.

Where do CFOs work?

All commercial enterprises, especially large ones, where coordination and planning of units responsible for cash flows are unlikely to be able to do without the position of financial director. Most often, this specialist is needed:

  • in banking organizations;
  • at manufacturing enterprises;
  • on the stock exchanges;
  • in insurance, trust, investment companies;
  • in various commercial organizations;
  • in certain state structures, etc.

If the organization did not have such a specialist before, it is necessary if:

  • the head does not fully report on the direction of the financial activities of his enterprise (the business is “staggering”);
  • the owner prefers to see the process of business activities and influence it, and not just record the results of the reports;
  • the activities undertaken to increase profits do not show profitability for a long time;
  • additional control of the planning and economic department, accounting department, IT department and others directly related to finance is needed;
  • delays in payments and debts are often allowed;
  • the profit received by documents and funds on the account does not match, etc.

What is required of a potential financial director

As you can see, small organizations and small companies cannot always afford to have a financial director on their staff, sometimes an accountant or himself can handle his functionality. CEO. But growing and big company this specialist is needed, so the requirements for him are quite high, as well as the proposed remuneration for his work.

To qualify for the position of CFO in any organization, the candidate must meet the primary minimum requirements:

  • higher economic education with a degree in Finance and Credit, Enterprise Economics, Accounting and Auditing, Financial Management or Banking;
  • knowledge of the computer at the level of experimental use, knowledge of basic programs, especially 1C;
  • knowledge in the field of tax, accounting and auditing;
  • knowledge of the main legislative and regulatory documentation;
  • oratory and diplomatic skills;
  • skills in preparing reports, presentations, public speaking;
  • at least three years of work experience in a related field.