CEO, CFO and COO are the three ranks standing after the position of managing director of the company. CFO has the authority to communicate with the board members, shareholders, employees and other executives. CFOs take care of annual report preparation, capital structure decisions, reports about financial performance, budgets, evaluation risk factors, and track the data analysis with technology implementation. The job is practical and not monotonous. The CFO title is experience-based, and CMA graduates are eligible for this title. The knowledge and practical experience of the individual propel them as CFOs. The job of an auditor is to understand the amendments, calculate the tax with amendments, provide consultation service, and prepare the auditor report of the company. The job of a CFO is to understand the organisational goals, prepare the financial reports and participate in the decisions of the board with his personal views. Cost accountants are the right persons for the role of CFO. Manufacturing companies have the same inventory management, cost planning, labour efficiency, and overhead distribution. The job of the CFO is not only with the process, but it is with decision-making. So, they need to have some experience in manufacturing and technology. The relevant experience help to understand the market and the business process effectively. The blog engages the readers with financial express 2022 CFO award winners. The blog is curated with an inspirational story about successful CFOs to motivate CMA students.
CFO 2022 award winners:
Financial Express is an India-based media company that acts as the data source for financial, business, stock market and economic news. The newspaper honoured the professionals from the CFO position for the year 2022. The award function was felicitated by the honourable minister of commerce and industry, consumer affairs & Food & public distribution and textiles minister. The award function flashed the names of Indian professionals Seshagiri Rao of JSW and ShrikanthVenkatachari, the joint CFO of reliance industries. The different categories of excellence for the CFO award are as follows: CFO of the year, large enterprises for services, large enterprises for manufacturing, medium enterprises for services, medium enterprises for manufacturing, small enterprises services, and small enterprises.
CFO of the year:
Reliance Industries has footprints in the following businesses: hydrocarbon exploration, production, petroleum refining, petrochemicals, petroleum marketing, textile, digital, retail, and financial services. The company is based out of Mumbai, India. The company was established in 1973. Alok Kumar Agarwal and Srikanthvenkatachari are the Chief financial officers of the company. Savithri Parekh is the company secretary of the company. The progress of reliance industries has its root in the innovative ideas of the two CFOs. The high rates of fuel export taxes were bothering Reliance Industries. The reliance industry is planning to buy German retailer Metro. By investing in the German industry, the retail portfolio is expanding. Investment decisions and tax management are the tactics that help to reduce the competition. The CFO of the year SrikanthVenkatachari is from Reliance Industries. His views about investment, expansion, cost control, and tax planning promoted the company.
Large enterprises for services:
The service industry was predominantly dominated by finance, insurance, and software companies. The companies with top performance in the service industry are as follows: HCL Technologies, Wipro limited, ICICI Lombard general insurance and Bajaj finance limited. The CFOs of these companies are Prateek Aggarwal, JatinDalal, Gopal Balachandran, and Sandeep Jain. Among these CFOs Prateek Aggarwal is an MBA graduate from IIM. He is among the top ten in the batch. His job experience includes acquisitions, high-rated bonds, and shareholder-friendly policies for capital allocation.
JatinDalal takes care of business finance, corporate finance, treasury, taxation, business planning, secretarial, controllership, procurement and assurance. He is also active in the investment committee that takes care of investments with start-ups. Gopal Balachandran, CFO of ICICI Lombard is a certified chartered accountant in service for more than 22 years. He is responsible for investor relations, finance and accounts, risk management, mid and back-office investments, and internal control and loss minimization. Bajaj finance’s CFO is Sandeep Jain. He holds AIR 22nd rank in the Chartered accountancy course of the 2005 batch. He has vast experience with Bajaj Finance from the year 2006 to 2016.
Large enterprises for manufacturing:
Manufacturing industries leadership awards are won by Divi’s Laboratories, Gland Pharma, and National mineral development corporation. The CFO of these companies has industry-specific knowledge and finance knowledge. KishorebabuLingamneni, Ravi Mitra, and Amitava Mukherjee are the centre of attraction for this section. Amitava Mukherjee said that the company is funding projects to enhance the infrastructure development and investment that support the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Medium enterprises for services:
MotilalOswal financial services, Persistent Systems, and ICICI securities fall under the medium enterprises CFO awards.
Medium enterprises for manufacturing:
Grindwell Norton Limited, Ajanta pharma limited, and Pfizer limited are the winners for medium-sized enterprises with manufacturing operations.
Small enterprises service industry:
Small enterprise services award winners are sonata software limited, Dr Lal path labs, eClerx services limited, and Aptus value housing finance.
Small enterprises:
Small enterprise award winners are Polypex Corporation limited, Metropolis healthcare limited and Suven pharmaceuticals limited.
What is the skill that tags a person as a CFO?
The demanding skills that evolved long before were financial knowledge and administration knowledge. For understanding the investments, tax planning, and cost planning CFO need qualifications like CA and CMA. CMA is a desirable qualification as it educates about the multiple dimensions of the business such as tax, cost, and investments.
Conclusion:
CMA qualification is highly suitable for the CFO post. The industry knowledge and the finance knowledge help in setting the strategies apt to the business. The above CFO winners set an inspiration for the CMA students. The roles and responsibilities of a CFO are market-centric. So, practical knowledge makes the difference in professional skills.
