Governance and Control
Overview
The Governance and Control competency covers five key skills: Governance, Risk Management, Compliance, Closing the Books, and Treasury.
Governance
Governance is an important aspect of any company, regardless of its size or industry. The purpose of governance is to ensure that your company is run in a responsible and effective manner, and that the employees are held accountable to certain standards. The CFO plays a key role as a board member to contribute towards strong governance and hold others accountable for their actions.
Risk Management
No business can be successful without taking risks. However, every business decision impacts profits either positively or negatively. By taking steps to assess and mitigate risks, the CFO can encourage everybody in your company to protect your business from potential losses.
Compliance
All companies need to maintain compliance regardless of whether you’re a small business or a large multinational corporation. There are many laws, regulations and standards that businesses must adhere to and failing to do so can result in serious penalties or significant reputational damage. Identifying each of these requirements can sometimes be challenging.
Closing the Books
Closing the books on a timely basis means your company accounts for all its financial transactions in the correct period. This provides an accurate picture of the financial performance and position at each period-end, allowing finance teams to create reliable management reports that can help support the wider business.
Treasury
Robust treasury policies help companies to maximize your cash flows and protect the financial health of your business. By optimizing working capital cycles, finance leaders can allocate additional funding toward strategic priorities. Treasury operations can help reduce your company’s exposure to macroeconomic factors, for example by hedging foreign exchange and interest rate movements.
Each of these requirements are essential components of your CFO role and must be implemented effectively.
Governance and Control Competency Criteria
Assess your competency across the five Governance and Control topics against the Ratings Guide below.
| Skill | 1. Basic Level | 2. Intermediate | 3. Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governance
Board responsibilities, Board pack reports, Director compliance and conduct. | Possesses high level knowledge of the company's governance framework and who is responsible. Provides the necessary information to support those charged with governance. | Holds a reasonable amount of authority within the business and has robust working knowledge of its governance procedures. Ensures that rules, practices and processes are followed at all times. | Plays a key role in determining authority levels and is actively involved in the decision-making process across all key activities. Ensures that there is a robust governance framework in place and consistently holds board members to account. |
| Risk management
Implementing policies and procedures, monitoring control frameworks and overseeing committees. | Understands the main risks within the business and is capable of monitoring the company's exposure to them on a regular basis. | Ensures that each team has the necessary resources to manage risks appropriately and that documented policies and procedures exist throughout. Monitors key risks and discusses these with senior management teams. | Champions the identification, evaluation and management of risks across the business. Constantly scrutinises the evolution of business and market factors to identify any potential new emerging threats. |
| Compliance
Technical accounting, financial and non-financial reporting, regulatory requirements, legal, tax, statutory audit and internal audit/reviews. | Has an awareness of the company's main compliance requirements and deadlines. Possesses basic awareness of how to deliver them. Occasionally misses deadlines or is required to resubmit schedules. | Oversees compliance with most applicable laws, policies and procedures. Consistently complies with all regulations and rarely receives comments from law enforcers. Would benefit from improved working knowledge of regulations and how best to fulfil them in a streamlined manner. | Takes full responsibility for ensuring compliance with all laws and regulations. Holds regular discussions with peer groups and third party advisors regarding the evolution of regulations and their potential impact on the business. Identifies and implements market-leading procedures to deliver their requirements. |
| Closing the books
Period-end close; accounting treatment, processing journals, forming valuations and making judgements | Possesses a reasonable understanding of how to lead a finance team towards closing the books in an accurate manner. | Designs and implements robust financial close procedures that operate in an accurate and efficient manner. Works closely with the rest of the business to ensure that everybody delivers their workstreams within the desired timetable. | Has a strong track record of delivering fast, accurate and insightful financial close processes in a streamlined manner. Implements robust technology applications to minimise the burden of month-end procedures on the finance team and the wider business. |
| Treasury
Cash management, treasury policies, managing foreign exchange and implementing hedging arrangements. | Implements strong procedures across the business to safeguard cash. Carries out basic procedures to monitor cash flow on a regular basis. Accurately forecasts future cash levels and anticipates any shortfalls. | Implements and monitors procedures to safeguard cash, monitor cash flows and optimise working capital cycles. Possesses a strong awareness of various sources of finance available to the company and has well-established relationships with relevant third parties. | Works closely with the wider business to ensure compliance with treasury procedures, mitigate risks and optimise cash generation across all activities. Ensures that everybody plays their role in maximising cash levels. Regularly scrutinises financing costs, available funding options and the return on capital employed. |
Assess Your Competencies
Explore the rest of The GrowCFO Competency Framework and take advantage of the following resources to assess and develop your strengths and skills gaps.
- The GrowCFO Competency Framework Home
- Download detailed competency ratings guide PDF
- Complete your GrowCFO Competency Framework and receive a free benchmarking report (included in GrowCFO free membership)
- Take the Governance and Control online course (GrowCFO premium membership)
- Attend competency workshop events (GrowCFO premium membership)
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