The independent school business officer's job has always required "super powers" of sorts. Since its beginnings, when BOI was originally a partnership with NAIS, this week-long immersion program has covered topics from wage and hour law to the audit process to managing technology and facilities programs. In the years since, seasoned business officers have told us repeatedly that the scope of their responsibility continues to expand dramatically. You must still manage budgeting and finances, but you must also oversee new aspects of compliance and reporting — along with providing an increasingly important perspective on operational strategy, risk management and human resources. For better or worse, that trend shows no sign of slowing. A recent global report by KPMG found that 63 percent of CEOs believe the CFO's role will grow even more in significance.
But there are upsides to this trajectory. For one thing, "Today's CFO is increasingly valued as a leader and influencer," according to the KPMG report summary. An article from the In the Black website goes further in calling today's CFO both a renaissance person and, no surprise to me, a superhero. "This new-age CFO can produce numbers in the morning, talk operational opportunities over lunch and present strategy to the board come the afternoon."
This week will reinforce the need for the superheroes of the business officer community to strengthen the relationship between their school's mission and a commitment to its long-term financial sustainability. Business officers are the linchpin in that relationship. As the school year winds down and the mercury climbs, reflect on how you can continue to build partnerships and leverage the collective "360-degree vision" that you, more superhero than you know, will need in the challenging (but also fulfilling) years ahead.
From Bottomline, June 21, 2016.
