A company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a C-level executive, who manages all issues of the company's business that concerns finance. They are responsible for financial planning, record keeping and reporting financials to the higher management. Most CFO's are professionally qualified accountants but most companies these days hire people with Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees. Alternatively, CFOs may also be denoted as the treasurer, the finance director or the financial director. They are an essential part of a business no matter how large or small it may be.

A Chief Financial Officer handles the inflow and outflow of cash and creates reports about the same. In most companies they are also responsible for handling the payroll of the employees. The CFO usually shares an equal status as that compared to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. Some companies have the same individual acting as the CFO and the CEO at the same time. Although, in this case, the C-level executive officer does not have the sole financial responsibility, instead he has subordinates working under him who are professional financial accountants. In countries like the United States, it is illegal to practice both these C-level executive positions by one individual. However, that have less than 5 employees do not really have to hire a separate CFO and the owner of the business himself along with his partners, if any, can take over the financial responsibilities, apart from running the business, owing to the absence of a board.

In businesses that are small scale, or in charities, a CFO is expected to make a financial report for every corporate meeting. They are also responsible to pay the employees and file company's taxes every year. The record of the money spent and the money received that is maintained by the Chief Financial Officer, is to be presented as per requirement, in publicly held corporations. These reports have to be duly presented to the public and/or shareholders as per request. They have to handle checkbooks and keep records of the same. Mathematical skills are an obvious pre-requisite. Along with a financial accountant degree when they also have a MBA degree, they are highly valued in the market and preferred by most companies. They are also known for making recommendations regarding ways and means to increase the company income.

On the contrary, in larger companies, the title of a CFO is generally honorary by nature. They do not take care of all the responsibilities instead bestow an equal share of financial assignments onto their subordinates who are professional and experienced accountants themselves. The Chief Financial Officer, in such cases, manages his/her team and guides them towards maximizing profits. They analyze their team closely and make sure to get their work efficiently done at lower costs. The CFO in larger businesses is ultimately the one that manages the payroll and the income stated on tax returns. Therefore, even if the subordinates manage most of the financial issues, it finally reaches the Chief Financial Officer for further scrutiny and a check for accuracy. In extremely large businesses, more financial officers, thus making the job more convenient for the CFO, again do the accuracy check. Being the C-level officer that they are, they have the right to vote on matters of interest to the company. A Chief Financial Officer is a member of the board and attends all board meetings.