2020 has been a year of challenges and learning. Even the top brass executives were forced to take a lesson or two from the situations. While every leadership role underwent drastic shift in terms of their roles & responsibilities, CFO has a tough time indeed. According to a survey report by KPMG/Forbes Survey of 549 top executives from six continents, almost one in every three CEOs worried about their CFO not being prepared for the challenges ahead.

Indeed this is a challenge for the leaders, especially when the role of a CFO has transformed from just reporting the financial status of their company to today being a strategic player in the company. Hence they need to be creative, understand the best practices and strategize to create more value for the company.

CFOs are now more focused on creating congruence between strategies developed for the enterprise and the financial imperatives established for the business. Today they need to lead the organization from the front when it comes to strategy design, governance model, inorganic growth, portfolio optimization, capital allocation, market positioning, risk management, performance management and more.

However, despite such strategic areas to look after, 2020’s new challenges add up to the woes of the CFOs. Whether it is attracting and retaining talent, cost issues like structuring costs to drive competitive strategy or acting on cost-related risks and opportunities resulting from the business cycle, disconnected data, working with emerging technologies and others. But the best part is that the CFOs are taking a positive leap towards addressing each of these challenges with new learning every day.

Saluting such determined CFOs is our CEO Insights Magazine’s ‘CFO of the Year – 2020’ edition. We interacted with many CFOs and have tried to bring to you their story of determination, persistence, perseverance, strategic thinking and others. Our aim is to inspire the next generation of finance professionals and help them learn the tricks and gear up to take on the challenges. Happy reading!

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