BUS 1010 Term Project Paper

Chief Financial Officer

McKaida Davies

Salt Lake Community College

 Job Description

A chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the administrative, financial, and

risk management operations of the company. The chief financial officer sometimes takes

the role of the controller for a company. The controller is the individual who has

responsibility for all accounting-related activities, including high-level accounting,

managerial accounting, and finance activities, within a company. Furthermore, a chief

financial officer manages the company’s finances and is responsible for the business's

financial reporting. Chief financial officers may also evaluate financial risks and

opportunities and oversee/manage the lower level financial managers. They also help

set and track financial goals, objectives, and budgets.

General Career Path

To become a chief financial officer, you must have an understanding of broad

financial experiences. At Les Olson Company, an entry-level position that would be

beneficial to a future career as a CFO would be the receptionist. Our receptionist assists

the account receivables department with billing and invoicing for the entire company.

The receptionist position would also help widen the customer service experience which

is another important aspect of becoming a chief financial officer.

Customer service is important in the chief financial officer position because they

should develop relationships with people at all levels of the company, as well as
external customers. After someone excels at the receptionist position and has gained

experience in customer service a possible next step would be going into the accounting

department as a billing specialist. Becoming a billing specialist will increase the

knowledge in finance within the business.

After gaining financial experience as a billing specialist, a good next step is a finance

manager. This will allow managing experience while maintaining the financial

knowledge previously gained. Another important piece of knowledge a chief financial

officer should have is a background of the business itself. A future chief financial officer

can gain this knowledge by shadowing other departments while being a finance

manager or going to additional training that may be offered within a company.

From the financial manager positions, the next promotion to work towards is a

controller position. Controllers are responsible for the financial and regulatory

compliance of the company. This will help a future chief financial officer gain an

understanding of the history of finances within the company.

After gaining a historical background of finances within the company and

excelling at being the controller, the final step is becoming a chief financial officer of a

business.

General Education Experience

A chief financial officer needs a fundamental knowledge of budgeting, analysis,

compliance, risk management, and other accounting principles. One of the

requirements of becoming a chief financial officer is earning a bachelor’s degree in

accounting, finance or economics along with an MBA or CPA. This education will also

give a deeper understanding of the topics listed above.

Average Salary

While researching salaries for the chief financial officers I discovered that the

average salary in the United States is $376,261 as of October 30, 2019, but the range

typically falls between $295,422 and $468,792. Salary ranges can vary widely depending

on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the

years of experience.

Career Outlook

Landing a job as a chief financial officer is a real gamble. The reason for this is

because there is typically only one chief financial officer per business and those people

in the position are likely to stay there until retirement. With there only being one

position available per the company it creates a very competitive atmosphere to become

a chief financial officer.

Bio of someone in the profession

Lisa Thaller began working as Les Olson Company in 1982 as a filing clerk. She

has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2004, served as Secretary-Treasurer

since 2011 and has been the Chief Financial Officer since 2009.

Lisa Thaller is the Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of the Board for Les

Olson Company. Les Olson Company is an office technology company that provides
Copiers, Printers, Document Management Software, IT Services, Managed Print

Services (MPS) and much more.

With Thaller being Les Olson Company’s Chief Financial Officer, she is in charge

of all the financial management. Thaller is responsible for the business's financial

reporting as well as evaluating financial risks and opportunities and oversee/manage

the lower level financial managers. Thaller also help set and track financial goals,

objectives, and budgets

“In addition to her responsibilities as a CFO, Thaller is also a company

shareholder and serves as a member of the company’s Profit-Sharing Plan Investment

Committee and Executive Committee. She also serves as a member of the Legacy of Life

Committee for the Intermountain Research Foundation and as a Salt Lake Advisory

Board member for Zions First National Bank.” (Marie Bradshaw, 2016)

Pros and Cons

One pro for being a chief financial officer is the get to see and understand the

finances of a company in their entirety. Another pro of being a CFO is to make complex

strategic decisions alongside the executive team. Working alongside the executive

opens opportunities to learn more about the company and industry which is another

benefit. The knowledge about accounting and finance that someone gains from being in

the CFO position is very transferable.

 A con of being a chief financial officer is it is a huge responsibility. The

company’s money issues become your money issue. Besides, being in charge of a

company’s cash flow can be extremely stressful to manage.

Your “fit” with this career

I feel I would not be a good fit for this career because finances are not my forte.

Currently, I work full time as the executive assistant at Les Olson Company. This means

that I work directly with the CEO, CFO, and President of the Company. Specifically

working with the chief financial officer, I have discovered that she speaks a very

different language than what I am used to. Although I think extremely highly of the

CFO of our company and she is the main reason why I chose to write about this career

in business, I feel like I would not be good at the financial, and risk management

operations of this position.

Sources

Wilkinson, J. (2019, January 4). Controller vs CFO: Determine the Value of a Controller

vs CFO. Retrieved from https://strategiccfo.com/controller-vs-cfo/#:~:targetText=The

difference between a controller,performance (i.e.: strategy).

CFO job description and duties: Robert Half. (2018, November 8). Retrieved from

https://www.roberthalf.co.nz/our-services/finance-accounting/cfo-jobs.

(n.d.). Retrieved from

https://study.com/articles/Chief_Financial_Officer_CFO_Requirements_and_Duties.h

tml.

Average Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Salary. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Financial_Officer_(CFO)/Salary.

Les Olson Company Elects Lisa Thaller as New Chairman of the Board. (2017, October

3). Retrieved from http://www.lesolson.com/2016/01/08/lisa-thaller-elected-

chairman-of-the-board/.

Lisa Thaller. (November 15, 2019) personal interview