The duties of a financial officer are an important part of the operation for any organization, nonprofit or commercial. The financial officer is the person who controls the spending, and sometimes the funding, of an operation.

Identification

The financial officer of a company is the person who is in charge of finances, accounting and investment activities of the company. A financial officer can have many titles but is mostly referred to as the Chief Financial Officer, or CFO.

Function

The financial officer’s duties include administration of the financial system, employee pay records and benefits and approval of payouts. This includes monitoring all expenses and budgets within the company to comply with approved policies.

Specific Duties

Specific duties include approving invoices, issuing receipts and creating overall budget projections. Other specialized duties can include maintaining the required government documentation and ensuring the delivery of financial records in a timely manner.

Corporate Rank

Depending on the organization, the financial officer can be as high as a Vice President reporting to the CEO or further down as someone strictly in charge of overall accounting. In nonprofit organizations, the financial officer can also be head of human resources or fundraising efforts.

Significance

The financial officer’s ability to carry out her duties can directly impact the ability for an organization to finance daily operations or raise funding. Her ability to follow government oversight also impacts the amount of government involvement in the business should the organization become financially unstable.