I hope my fellow CFOs and Controllers don't mind my calling us "bean counters." After all, I am one of them and, hence, it's Ok. It's like with all derogatory terminology – if you belong to the group, you are allowed to use it. And if that name-calling has upset you, beware – this is just a beginning.
The truth is, many of my peers are just that – the bean counters limited to their narrowly defined tasks, thus contributing to the frequently observed conflict between finance and accounting on one side and the revenue generators on the other. Both sides have to tolerate each other, but it is a precarious armistice.
CFOs and Controllers think that sales and operational people don't work too hard, while getting high performance-based compensation. They are loud and overconfident, while not necessarily well educated and intellectual. They are never in the office, taking long lunches with customers and prospects. When they are in the office, they are on the phone most of the time. They take paid trips to foreign lands and get car allowances for their domestic travels. They jeopardize the company's well-being with their grandiose "strategic" deals that end up losing money. Most importantly, they wouldn't be able to do anything without our funding their transactions, controlling their profits, calculating their commissions and reporting their results.
On the other hand, VP of Sales and COOs think that they are the moving gears of the company. They despise the bean counters for stifling their "important" deals with "useless" profitability criteria, for knowing how much money they make and for suspecting that there is nothing behind the confident appearance – just the rolodex and lots of air. Most importantly, they feel that their unique ability to bring business is not respected enough. Money is not everything, you know.
The fact is, however, that a sales (or procurement, or operations, or trading,) ace does possess a truly unique ability to generate revenue with skills that frequently have nothing to do with education, professionalism, or intellectual expertise. There is a reason you don't need a college degree to obtain trading, brokerage, insurance, or real estate licenses. You definitely don't need an MBA to become a VP of Sales. These jobs require intuitive abilities and social skills of a very special sort. Trust me, not too many people are born with those talents. The real great ones are quite rare.
It must be said that I am one of the few CFOs who always support the people responsible for bringing business to the company, even if they don't like me. Many of my colleagues forget that all our functions are secondary and subservient. Everything that we do either facilitates the breadwinners' success (and failure) or reports it. That's all.
Without them I wouldn't have my job. They are the ones responsible for generating enough dough to cover my salary, benefits and bonuses. And if I could do what they can, I would have.
The Frustrated CFO 