A third of APAC CEOs question the competence of their CFOs: survey

They feel CFOs don't help enough in management.

More than 70 percent of Asia Pacific chief executives (CEOs) surveyed in a new KPMG study said they see a powerful future for their chief financial officer or CFO.

According to a release from KPMG, however, a-third, or 32 percent, felt their CFOs are not helping enough with the challenges they face running their organisations.

Titled "The View from the Top," the study surveyed 178 CEOs, managing directors, business owners and chairmen of large companies based in Asia Pacific to find out more about their changing views and expectations of the finance function.

Some 39 percent of respondents are from the ASEAN region, out of which 16 percent are based in Singapore. Said Martyn van Wensveen, Global Leader of Financial Management at KPMG in Singapore: “This report contains good and bad news for CFOs. The good news is that CEOs believe the CFO’s role will increase in importance over the next three years, compared to other C-suite roles.

The bad news is that almost a third of the surveyed CEOs don’t believe their CFOs understand or assist enough with the business challenges they are facing."

Here's more from KPMG:

“When KPMG asked global CFOs a year ago about their roles, 60 percent said they were happy
with the overall performance of their finance function, and on average less than 10 percent of CFOs rated any of their finance processes as a weakness.

So there is a clear disconnect between the actual performance of the CFOs and the expectations of their bosses.”

More than half – 58 percent – of CEOs also said they see performance and growth as the CFO’s greatest opportunity to contribute to the organisation.

“CEOs want their CFOs to focus on growth but the current typical CFO is too mired in costs and compliance issues, wading through the numbers,” added Mr van Wensveen.

The report also shows that CEOs envision a future in which data analytics generate more powerful business intelligence.

They are looking to their CFO to take an investor's perspective while providing business support and strategic input, examining decisions through a value lens and challenging strategy from a risk perspective.

CFOs must focus on the key areas of concern – taking a more strategic approach; improving their leadership and talent management skills; leveraging technology and data better; and lastly streamlining reporting and control tasks so that they are not bogged down in compliance and regulatory issues.