CFOs should contribute more to strategy formulation: Report

India Inc. Friday said there is a need for addition of new roles to the chief financial officer's portfolio, whereby it can contribute to strategy formulation and decision-making of the company.

The outcome for advancing the role of a CFO's responsibilities came after deliberations where held at an industry event to release Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and consulting firm KPMG's report on "Playing to Win in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) Environment" during CII's eight CFO Summit 2014.

The release witnessed participation of senior industry leaders and regulators. The report was released by H.R. Khan, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"The time for a new age, next generation CFO (has arrived), a tech-savvy visionary who is 'adept to adapt' to any given situation and delivers results with passion and precision blended with perfect timing, setting high ethical and governance standards," said V.S. Parthasarathy, chairman - CII CFO Summit 2014 and CFO, Mahindra & Mahindra.

Although the traditional role of CFOs involves financial control, planning and reporting, treasury, risk management and compliance, the report pointed that to succeed in the changing world the CFOs should expand their roles beyond accounting and financial reporting and move away from transactional work to more value added activities.

"There is increasing pressure for the CFO from the shareholders to maximise returns by optimising taxes and increase earnings per share, while in doing so they have to ensure that they are not branded as villains for tax avoidance or tax evasion," pointed Punit Shah, Head - West for KPMG in India.

"They also have to safeguard that any corporate action does not bring any disrepute and negative publicity to the corporate image or brand."