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CFOs say they have already taken on environmental responsibilities, but only half the C-suite believes them.
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Bosses to put ESG burden on their chief finance exec, survey says
23 September 2022
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9 minute read
Bosses expect CFOs to shoulder the burden of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting but almost half their fellow executives feel they are failing to embrace the role, according to one global software company.
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In its survey, over 86 per cent of business leaders in Australia said a CFO had the responsibility to choose the right resources to effectively execute ESG strategies for the entity.
Moreover, 85 per cent of those leaders said they expected their CFOs to play a key role in setting the business’ sustainability and ESG strategy.
However only half, 52 per cent, of the financial officers’ fellow C-suite team said CFOs were acting on their responsibility for the firm’s ESG goals, even though almost four in five CFOs said they played “an essential role”.
“The role of the CFO has changed immensely as businesses grapple with the many challenges that have been thrown at them these past few years,” said Andy Thiss, area vice-president of Anaplan.
“While their role used to be centred around company finances, these findings show that there is an expectation for CFOs to stretch beyond that focus, and help the company drive long term goals.
“From breaking down silos, to navigating uncertainties and meeting ambitious ESG goals, the role of connect planning in assisting CFOs with these challenges is paramount.”
The survey found the responsibilities of CFOs shifted during COVID from a predominant focus on business finances to helping the organisation navigate through the pandemic.
According to Anaplan, seven out of 10 business leaders said that CFOs had played a key role in keeping up with regulatory changes and 67 per cent said CFOs were key in meeting customers’ changing needs as well as facilitating hybrid work.
The data was derived from a report created in partnership between Anaplan and Deloitte that explored the developing role of a CFO, with over 700 participants globally surveyed including more than 100 senior business leaders and CFOs across Australia.
Anaplan is a cloud-native enterprise SaaS company that strives to transform how companies see, plan and drive business performance.
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