For chief financial officers of public companies, the American fascination (or is it a fixation?) with the stock market makes for some tough days at the office. Accounting and tax policy are perennial minefields, and the Securities and Exchange Commission recently stepped up scrutiny of company finance departments. Research analysts demand face-to-face meetings and constant streams of numbers.
No wonder the overwhelming majority of respondents to this month’s CFO Forum - a whopping 86 percent - report that being a CFO is more difficult today than it was five years ago. Nor is this a crowd that is wet behind the ears: More than 90 percent of CFOs surveyed have been financial executives for at least five years.
With heavier burdens come sweeter rewards - or so many finance officers hope. More than 48 percent of respondents expect that being CFO will help them attain higher office, such as chairman or CEO. Still, 51.6 percent don’t think the job will prove to be a stepping stone to a loftier title. To a clear majority of respondents, the outlook is rosier now than it was five years ago: 63 percent said CFOs are more likely now to receive promotions than they were in 1995.
But the stress of the job is taking its toll. More than 80 percent of respondents report increased turnover among CFOs. Certainly, the lure of the New Economy may play a role here - witness high-profile defections like Citigroup CFO Heidi Miller’s move to Priceline.com in March. Indeed, while the majority of CFOs have held their current jobs for more than three years, nearly one quarter have tenures of less than one year. That’s life in the hot seat.
