CFO Buzz is a news feature capturing top stories affecting CFOs. This feature is published Fridays so that CFOs can gain perspective over the weekend, allowing them to challenge themselves and think about how to improve their lives, careers and companies.
1) 9 Key Elements for CFO Communications
A big part of a CFOs responsibility is to communicate properly with various internal and external stakeholders. It is not enough just to share information with others, but communication is a two way street, allowing you to get the information you need to manage expectations and add value. Deloitte CFO Insights discusses nine key elements for successful CFO Communications. How many of these elements do you do? How many of them do you do well?
Creating an effective communications program – Deloitte CFO Insights
2) What should a Director get paid?
This article spoke to me, specifically because a CFO of mine asked me this very question recently. While a lot of information on executive compensation is available, director compensation is difficult to compare. It is easier to compare executives working full time with similar responsibilities in companies that are in similar industries and similar sizes. The biggest challenge for comparing director compensation is that the time spent and risk involved can vary significantly. This article is worth the read.
How Much to Pay a Director? There’s No Clear Answer – New York Times
3) Is it worth cutting out office snacks?
We have seen or heard of companies that cut office snacks and drinks to staff when under budgetary pressure. While the dollar value of the cost can easily be quantified, the negative impact on employee productivity and goodwill may be significant. As CFO, have you cut these costs? Did the cost savings outweigh the impact?
Why Getting Rid of Free Office Snacks Doesn’t Come Cheap – Bloomberg
4) Should your children become Accountants?
If the future of accounting will be automated and based on artificial intelligence, maybe recommending that your children become accountants is not a good idea. While I personally believe there will continue to be room for added value from people with real intelligence in accounting and finance, the perspective is worth considering.
Don’t Let Your Children Grow Up To Be Accountants – Forbes
5) Do CFOs care just about the numbers?
Mark Garrett, CFO at Adobe, shares his perspective on the importance of people to the CFO. Garrett thankfully takes the position that all business decisions impact people, and even tough decisions need to take the people impact into account. I guess CFOs are human after all.
Why People Matter to a CFO – Adobe Blog
Some of Samuel’s other CFO stuff this week
CFO Moves – Moves across the USA – week ending November 6, 2015
Tweet of the week
Good news #CFO s: The Future of Finance Looks Bright (But Only if you Plan + Act) @DERGELCFO https://t.co/NyjdEQAMfH pic.twitter.com/pG8lLvVvEB
— SAP Finance (@SAPFinance) November 12, 2015
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