The traditional role of a chief financial officer included keeping the books, ensuring regulatory compliance, and reporting the company’s finances. In addition, these professionals often controlled corporate budgets and signed off on projects they deemed financially acceptable. Today’s business environment has changed significantly, and no longer can these human assets sit behind a desk in the background. Therefore, these are some skills you should look for when choosing your CFO.

Strategic Thinking and Development

Today’s financial officers contribute to the overall strategy creation of the company. These individuals help upper management prioritize projects. They also help them create initiatives that the company can afford to fund. They may build financial models and analyze trends, and many times their tasks involve more than mere financial information or projections.

Because they control the company’s purse, they need to have the ability to strategically articulate the project, its purpose, and its expected outcome to other stakeholders within the organization. This requires that these professionals understand not only how to communicate, but also how to identify what appeals to others and focus on that aspect so these others buy into the new strategy.

Operations Management

Your financial executive needs to understand your business model. These professionals should have industry and market knowledge that they use to view challenges and opportunities from a financial perspective. They have to understand how the business works so they can ensure that corporate decision-makers ground their decisions in solid financial data.

This requires extensive knowledge of data analytics and predictive models. They can use this data to truly evaluate opportunities, from new product lines to infrastructure expansions. They can also gain further insight into costs, creating greater control over expanses.

Leadership Capabilities

Today’s financial executives are more like partners than employees. As such, they need leadership skills, including exceptional communication capabilities. Due to their expanded role in strategy development and operations management, they need to effectively communicate and advise other managers and employees within the organization. Their direction and explanations should be clear, concise, and easily understood because they need to communicate with individuals at all levels of the organization.

Financial officers also need to be examples and have the ability to inspire others. They should have the ability to work within and lead teams. They are company leaders and should have the ability to fulfill this role.

CFOs have always had a risk-mitigation role, but the expansion of their involvement in all aspects of a company requires that they have new skills in addition to their traditional regulatory compliance and financial capabilities. Therefore, search for financial executives that can fill a new set of roles.