chief financial officer (CFO)

Senior-most executive responsible for financial control and planning of a firm or project. He or she is in charge of all accounting functions including (1) credit control, (2) preparing budgets and financial statements, (3) coordinating financing and fund raising, (4) monitoring expenditure and liquidity, (5) managing investment and taxation issues, (6) reporting financial performance to the board, and (7) providing timely financial data to the CEO. Also called chief finance officer, comptroller, controller, or finance controller.