2003 Finance Executive Career & Compensation Survey

In spite of the recession, salaries are on the rise -- partly because accounting scandals and new laws affecting reporting have made top-notch accounting skills more important than ever before.

Some finance professionals have suggested that finance and accounting processes under the new Sarbanes-Oxley Act resemble combat. If that's so, the weapons in Tom Bradley's arsenal have been battle-tested in recent months. Bradley is CFO of St. Paul Companies Inc., an insurer headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., with $8.9 billion in revenue.

"In terms of the challenges you handle and the skills you call on as a CFO, the emphasis has swung back toward the accounting and financial reporting issues," he says. In the next breath, though, Bradley mentions a possible surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the insurance industry next year. "That means calling upon my deal-making skills," he says. "There's been an emphasis on showing leadership on accounting issues, but you're still expected to be many things. It requires a reshifting of priorities among the arrows you have in your quiver."

Fortunately for St. Paul Companies and its shareholders, Bradley's quiver is well-stocked. He is a CPA, he worked in public accounting, he holds an MBA, and he has plenty of M&A and strategic experience. In the past year, Bradley has taken aim at Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, reeled in portions of the company's risk profile and sat through tough meetings with rating agencies. He kept the executive team abreast of the company's financial strength. Plus, he represented St. Paul Companies in analyst meetings and media interviews, facing head-on the skepticism of the current business environment.

Any top-notch finance executive can paint a similar picture of the recent past. Sarbanes-Oxley and the accounting crises that precipitated it heightened the importance of the CPA designation and traditional accounting skills. But, as Bradley attests, senior-level finance positions are not an either/or proposition these days. Strategic demands have also surged. "You've got to be better," says Paul Crawley, CFO of Smith & Hawken Ltd., a $100 million retailer of high-end gardening supplies based in Novato, Calif. "You've got to do more."

Results from the Business Finance 2003 Finance Executive Career & Compensation Survey echo that sentiment. The nature of finance executives' workload may be shifting, but it's certainly not getting any lighter. Top priorities for senior-level finance managers are cutting costs, improving financial reporting processes, managing growth and preparing better forecasts. An overwhelming majority of CFOs are taking an active role in strengthening corporate governance. Creating shareholder value and fortifying performance management processes remain critical compensation drivers for finance professionals of all levels.