CEO, CFO, and treasurer

- Let's discuss the differences among a CEO, the chief executive officer; a CFO, the chief financial officer, the treasurer and the controller. - [Instructor 1] Hey, a great way to understand the big picture is with an organization chart like this. - [Instructor 2] The CEO, or the chief executive officer, is hired by the board of directors to oversee all the aspects of the company. - [Instructor 1] Recall that the board of directors is a group of people elected by the owners, the shareholders if the company's a corporation, to make big strategic decisions on behalf of the owners. - The members of the board of directors are usually not employees of the company. Instead, they're outsiders who are experienced decision-makers and who meet several times a year to consider broad strategic questions regarding the company. - The chairperson of the board of directors oversees the activities of the elected directors in making high-level corporate decisions. - The chairperson of the board of directors also oversees the chief executive officer, the CEO, who is a professional manager hired by the board of directors to run the corporation on a day-to-day basis. - [Instructor 1] The CEO chooses two top assistants, the COO, or chief operating officer; and the CFO, the chief financial officer. - The COO runs the actual operating activities of the company on a day-to-day basis. So the COO at Walmart is a retailing expert. The COO at McDonald's is a fast-food expert. It would be unlikely that the COO for Walmart would subsequently get a job as the COO for McDonald's. COO work tends to be industry-specific. - [Instructor 1] The CFO plans for, and obtains, financing for the company and oversees all aspects of financial reporting. - The CFOs for both Walmart and McDonald's are money people. They understand financial markets, risks, banks, accounting reports, and so forth. - So it is conceivable that a Walmart CFO could subsequently get a job as CFO for McDonald's. In both positions, the CFO is doing basically the same thing. - [Instructor 2] Now, as a group, the CEO, COO, and CFO comprise what is called the C-suite, the top-level managers of a company. - [Instructor 1] Other members of the C-suite include the CTO, the chief technology officer; and recently, the CSO, the chief sustainability officer. - Okay, now, let's focus on the responsibilities of the CFO, the chief financial officer. - [Instructor 1] The CFO has two key assistants, the treasurer and the controller. - [Instructor 2] The controller oversees all aspects of financial reporting: preparation of the external summary financial statements, preparation of all internal budgets and performance evaluation reports, internal and external audits, income tax filings, and so forth. - [Instructor 1] The treasurer plans for, and obtains, financing for the company. - [Instructor 2] The treasurer has oversight of a company's financial activities, including interacting with financial institutions, such as banks. - [Instructor 1] Forecasting and balancing the cash collections from customers and the payment of cash to suppliers and others, and maintaining adequate liquidity. - [Instructor 2] Identifying the need for, and then obtaining bank loans and owner investments. - [Instructor 1] And monitoring and assessing financial, operational, and reputational risks. - You can see that the duties of the treasurer are both important and wide-ranging. - This course on treasury management is a detailed overview of the responsibilities and activities of company treasurers.