Figure 1. Organization of a Typical Corporation

Figure 1 shows how fi­nance fits into a typical business organization. The vice president for finance, or chief financial officer, operates with the vice presidents of the other business teams.

The Organization of the Finance Team In most medium-to-large businesses, a chief financial officer (CFO) supervises a team of employees who manage the finan­cial activities of the firm. One common way to organize a finance team in a medium-to-large business is shown in Figure 2. We see that the chief financial officer (CFO) directs and coordi­nates the financial activities of the firm. The CFO supervises a Treasurer and a Con­troller. The treasurer generally is responsible for cash management, credit management, and financial planning activities, while the controller is responsible for cost accounting, financial accounting, and information system activities. The treasurer and the controller of a large corporation are both likely to have a group of ju­nior financial managers reporting to them. At a small firm, one or two people may perform all the duties of the treasurer and of the controller. In very small firms, one person may perform all functions, in­cluding finance.