CFOs play crucial role in surviving Covid-19 crisis

IN RECENT years, chief financial officers (CFOs) have been called upon to do many things. They have stepped beyond their traditional technical finance functions, embracing technology and innovations to partner chief executive officers (CEOs) and boards on strategic issues.

But if asked at the end of 2019, probably no CFO would place "managing through a global pandemic and economic crisis at the same time" among their top five things to do in 2020. Like many others, CFOs are being asked to do even more in a very short timeframe.

A McKinsey article in March suggests that the attention on CFOs is appropriate because "the CFO is the leader, after all, who most directly contributes to a company's financial health and organisational resilience".