The role of a chief financial officer (CFO) is not just confined to look at balance sheets but is extended to strategically manage the financial risks of the company, especially in times of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Also, at a time when global markets are facing a challenging environment, CFOs have to explore the strategies involved in improving corporate performance and achieving exceptional growth.
These points of discussion set the ball rolling at the panel discussion titled, ?The CFOs role in integrating people, process and information? held at the second annual CFO Strategies India meet in Mumbai on Tuesday. Giving his perspective on the role of CFO?s in the current scenario, Sanjay Jain, president and group CFO, Essel Group said, ?The job of a CFO is different today from what it was five years ago. His role is more challenging that ever in the current scenario when Indian companies have made quite a few M&As in the recent past.? He added that a CFO?s view is to look at the funding side and to also assess the market situation if there is any M&A.
Another panelist, Saumen Chakraborty, president, CFO and global chief of IT/Business Process Excellence at Dr Reddy?s Laboratories said that after an acquisition, the CFO has to analyse the financial and cultural fit of the organisation. ?The most critical part is to appoint managers in each vertical to bridge the gap between the work culture of both the organsiations. Jain echoed the sentiment and added that managers in marketing, operating and financial teams have to be appointed immediately to deliver results in the merged or acquired entity.
Jain further said that if there is an M&A activity hardly a few days before the announcement of the result of the financial quarter, then it is all the more difficult for the CFO to prepare and give a consolidated review of the company to the board without wasting any time.
