CA Sri Lanka to focus on CFOs next week

Saturday, 17 May 2014 00:40 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Two key international accounting personalities, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Chief Executive Officer Fayez Choudhury and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia Head of Leadership and Advocacy Rob Ward, will focus on the evolving role of the Chief

Financial Officer (CFO) at a forum next week organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka). Choudhury who will deliver the keynote speech at the forum on 19 May will shed insight on the more traditional role played by a CFO in the past in comparison to the more complex role they play today apart from the importance of possessing a wide ranging ability to help them steer businesses successfully. Ward will also offer his experts while helping CFOs in Sri Lanka understand their evolving role and responsibilities within a dynamic environment. The two speakers will be later joined by an expert panel group comprising CA Sri Lanka President Arjuna Herath, who will moderate the session, together with Sampath Bank PLC Managing Director Aravinda Perera and Commercial Bank PLC Chief Financial Officer and CA Sri Lanka Professional Accountants in Business Committee Chairman Nandika Buddhipala who will discuss at length on how a CFO could excel in a constantly changing and uncertain world, apart from the multiple roles of the CFO. The panel discussion will also focus on whether there is a distinctive role of a CFO and the many changing roles of a CFO together with the requirements of new skills for a CFO to successfully steer an organisation and the CFO’s role in the eyes of the board. Choudhury was also a speaker at The Economist 2014 CFO Summit in London where he spoke on the key factors driving the emerging role of the future CFO. At the height of the financial crisis, when cost reduction leapt to the top of the corporate agenda, supply chains were one of the first places that CFOs turned to for savings. Cost efficiency has since remained high on the corporate agenda but as companies get used to navigating ongoing economic uncertainty, while the supply chain has taken on a new strategic significance. The CFO Forum organised by CA Sri Lanka will be an important platform where the important link between CFO and supply chain will also be discussed at length.