CAOs hit a bump in the road in 2020. The urgency of dealing with impacts on the business from the COVID-19 outbreak has meant doubling down on governance and compliance duties, what we see as a temporary break from their progression to becoming a strategic business partner. Indeed, other company leaders also see the CAO’s traditional responsibilities as paramount at this time.
Based on our second annual CAO survey which included CEOs and CFOs, peers and CAO direct reports, a new KPMG paper, CAO journey: 2020 was a bump in the road, maps out where CAOs stand in their efforts to make a bigger contribution in the C-suite. Although the current business environment has interrupted that process, we found that CAOs are still in the driver’s seat in their evolution toward an expanded role, especially when it comes to leading their companies’ data analytics strategy.
COVID-19 and the economy forced the Chief Accounting Officer to shift focus from expanding the CAO role
