The New CFO Mandate

How finance leaders can reconcile and fulfill their growing portfolios of responsibilities.

A recent McKinsey survey shows that the CFO’s role is rapidly evolving—expanding in scope, requiring new capabilities, and demanding greater collaboration with C-suite peers. In the first of three conversations on the changes that finance leaders face, two McKinsey experts along with Jørn Jensen, an experienced finance leader, discuss the CFO’s new mandate with communications director Sean Brown.

Sean Brown: Can you tell us about the CFO survey and what insights it yielded?

Ankur Agrawal: We have been conducting this survey every two years for more than a decade to learn what is on CFOs’ minds. We are living in a very uncertain, volatile time, and some of the findings reflect both the opportunity and the challenge of the role today. CFOs have influence on more and more functions (Exhibit 1). The magnitude of the change
is both impressive and broad. Secondly, the time for digitisation in finance is now. Many enterprises are doing fundamental reviews of their business models, and finance leaders are exploring how to accelerate the pace of change.

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