CFO Charting a Course through Stormy Seas: The Chief Financial Officer in 2012
Federal CFOs are weathering today’s financial storms by nurturing and protecting their workforce. Their offices have a strong culture that is instrumental in meeting the established goals.
With staff cutbacks driving up workload for the remaining staff, continuing pay freezes driving down morale, and elections making the entire federal workforce fair game for political attacks, CFOs are in need of a strong culture to keep everyone focused on achieving results. These are just some of the findings from the 2012 survey of federal CFOs conducted by the Association of Government Accountants and Grant Thornton LLP.
The 17th annual survey is based on responses from over 300 federal CFOs and their workforces. Among other insights, we have found that:
- The federal Campaign to Cut Waste does not strategically advance the mission of agencies, which sometimes results in diverting resources that could be better used elsewhere.
- CFOs organize and align their offices with their agency mission such that every CFO’s success is an agency success.
- The agency workforce is not as optimistic as the CFOs about how well they will weather the financial storms.
Please contact Robert Shea at Robert.Shea@us.gt.com or 703.837.4400 if you have any questions or would like further information.
Related documents
Online Questionnaire for 2012 AGA CFO Survey This questionnaire focuses on risk management, predictive and statistical analytics, how to deal with government budget reductions and ideas for a better model for federal annual audited financial reporting.
Inperson Questionnaire for Association of Government Accountants 2012 Survey of CFOs and Financial Executives This questionnaire focuses on risk management, predictive and statistical analytics, how to deal with government budget reductions and ideas for a better model for federal annual audited financial reporting.
Surviving in the New Era (2011 CFO Survey) This 17th annual survey report focuses on the financial reporting model, predictive analytics, risk management, financial management operations and assisting non-financial operations.
Surviving in the New Era (2011 State CFO Survey) This report, drawn from the 2011 CFOs: Surviving in the New Era, is a more indepth look at the issues facing 40 state and territorial auditors, comptrollers, treasurers and other financial executives and 393 financial managers.
Meeting the Challenge and Improving ROI (2010 CFO Survey) Conducted in partnership with the Association of Government Accountants and the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers, this survey is now in its 16th year. The 2010 survey probes the views of 268 government financial professionals, focusing on how they are meeting some of the challenges of the economic downturn. Topics include financial reporting, improving financial management, information technology, predictive analytics and risk management, human capital and reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Recovery and the Transparency Imperative (2009 CFO Survey) This year nearly 500 financial executives and managers took part in the in-person and online survey. In addition to interviews from federal executives in the United States, the survey includes results from interviews with U.S. state financial officers and Government of Canada chief financial officers. Key topics for the 2009 survey include the economic recovery, transparency, advice for new CFOs and a discussion of the annual financial statement process.
Financial Management: Providing a Foundation for Transition (2008 CFO Survey) Grant Thornton and the Association of Government Accountants joined together to produce the 12th annual survey of federal Chief Financial Officers. More than 230 federal financial executives and managers took part in the survey, which focused on the building blocks of a successful future for federal financial management. Among the areas highlighted were: financial reporting, accounting and auditing standards, internal controls, regulatory consolidation and integration, human capital management and the future role of the CFO.
