The Role of the CFO in Large and Small Businesses

The role of the CFO goes beyond the tracking and recording of finances that a bookkeeper or accountant might do. A CFO is responsible for analyzing and strategizing with this information to determine patterns and changes that can help the business grow. CFOs understand the big picture and are always looking for ways to improve. As we’ve mentioned in other blogs, the modern CFO goes beyond finances and needs to be a leader who thinks strategically.

The above is a basic overview of the role of a CFO – but how does this role change in a small business compared to a large one? The simple answer to this question is that it is a matter of scale. As one would expect, a small business CFO deals with smaller numbers, strategies, and growth increments. It is not a matter of being less essential to the company or even the financial role they provide, but instead the scale of the information they are dealing with.

A larger business CFO will, of course, work with larger numbers and maybe work to grow nationally or globally rather than locally. It is still a matter of analyzing the numbers and understanding what it means for future decisions – the decision just might be a bit bigger.

However, as mentioned above, this is no longer the only function of the CFO. A CFO is also responsible for the leadership and interpersonal skills that allow them to work with those around them to understand and implement what they have analyzed. These skills are what need to be utilized differently in small or large businesses.

In a small business, these interpersonal skills involve knowing those around you and their skill sets so that you can factor them into plans and decisions. Depending on the number of employees, you may be the only person in charge of finances, but your coworkers still influence and affect the strategies you create and how you implement them.

In a large business, these skills lean more toward leadership and mentoring. As a CFO, you likely have a financial team around you that is either looking to one day be in your position or will assist you in analyzing and planning. While it is still important to understand the capabilities of those around you and consider this in decisions, it is also helpful to share your knowledge and work together with your financial team in the long term. In this case, leadership and interpersonal skills are used to surround yourself with the best talent and ensure those people are being educated and utilized for the company’s overall benefit. More simply, small business CFOs need to know their coworkers to advise them, and large business CFOs need to know their team to mentor, retain, and collaborate with them.

TCOBI has been providing senior financial and leadership expertise to a variety of organizations in a number of different industries for 40+ years. Whether your business is small or large, our CFO services and expertise can help.