"The CFO is in the best position to know the strength of the organisation. It is up to him to set benchmarks and determine the company's unique positioning and strength, or weakness" Praveen P. Kadle Executive Director (Finance & Corporate Affairs)/Tata Motors

Two large LCD monitors behind his head flash the latest stock prices and index values. His table is brimming with research papers, which detail the status of and the prospects for the Indian economy and the two-wheeler industry, including product launches, market shares and technology. Proposals from various local governments making a case for his company to set up its third manufacturing plant in their respective states also adorn the desk. You might have guessed the company by now: Yes, it's Hero Honda Motors, India's #1 motorcycle company. But whose office could this be: If you had to choose between CEO, head of marketing and head of finance, you'd more likely opt for either one of the first two mentioned. It couldn't be head of finance-after all, his task is just to tally numbers, and not to take major decisions on plant locations or to negotiate with state governments, right?

Wrong. Let the man himself, Ravi Sud, Vice President (Finance), Hero Honda Motors, dispel any antiquated notions you harboured about beancounting, scorekeeping financial controllers. "We aren't just number crunchers any more; the role of the finance head has evolved tremendously. I have to get involved in every major decision the company makes because there is a cost issue involved, be it marketing or product launches. It is my job to advise the company about the financial implications of decisions," explains Sud.

To be sure, the rechristening of finance chiefs to the rather officious title of CFO isn't a superficial change. If yesterday he was a mere accountant or auditor, supporting the decision-making CEO, today the CFO is the one making the decisions, blueprinting strategy, conceiving and concluding mergers and acquisitions (M&As), managing risk, building bridges with investors and focussing on raising cost-effective capital, both domestic and international. "With relatively less capital competing among different businesses, the CFO becomes pivotal in ensuring that the capital comes to his company or bank as the case may be," says N.S. Kannan, CFO and Treasurer, ICICI Bank. Besides, he also has to ensure that resource allocation among different business units is done profitably so as to ensure optimal returns for the company.

"We would tend to attach a lot of emotions to the business, but we have to learn to be detached if we want to move forward... (yet) we don't hive off or retain businesses for the heck of it" D.D. Rathi Whole Time Director and CFO/ Grasim Industries	"We aren't just number-crunchers any more... I have to get involved in every major decision the company makes because there is a cost issue involved" Ravi Sud Vice President (Finance)/ Hero Honda Motors

"The CFO is in the best position to know the strength of the organisation. It is up to him to set benchmarks and determine what is the company's unique positioning and strength-or weakness-and then leverage that. He is the most active player in improving the profitability of the company," says Praveen P. Kadle, Executive Director (Finance & Corporate Affairs) for Tata Motors. Kadle would know. Over the last four years, he has been at the forefront of the spectacular turnaround at Tata Motors, from a company saddled with losses of Rs 500 crore in 2001 to one that is debt free today and has enough cash surplus to launch new products (cars, trucks and buses). The strategy of Kadle and his core team revolved around getting Tata Motors back in black in the first two years, and then growing it over the next three. So far, he is bang on target.

At Tata Motors-as at most of India Inc. that matters-inorganic growth via cross-border M&A has also become a mantra. There have been two major acquisitions over the last 15 months (Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company in Korea, and a minority stake in Hispano Bus Company, which may eventually be converted into a Tata Motors subsidiary). In both cases, the finance team played a crucial role, right from the initial analysis as to how the acquisitions would be profitable for the company, to the due diligence and negotiations. Post acquisition too, it's up to the CFO to make sure that the integration process passes smoothly. At Gujarat Ambuja Cements, ed Anil Singhvi was involved in the recent $800-million (Rs 3,520-crore) transaction with Swiss cement giant Holcim from start to end, and remarkably he concluded the deal without any assistance from investment bankers. Small wonder then that Singhvi remarks: "The CFO today has transformed into one who is setting the rules of the game."

"With several of the organisation's business units competing for capital, the role of the CFO becomes pivotal in ensuring that capital gets allocated in the most optimal manner across business units" N.S. Kannan CFO and Treasurer/ ICICI Bank	"The CFO is now setting the rules of the game... (but) though the responsibilities have increased, so have the risks. If you cut corners, you are more exposed than the CEO" Anil Singhvi Executive Director/ Gujarat Ambuja Cements

The bottom line of course is that all such activity should result in value creation, and that goal may call for significant amounts of restructuring, and divestments. D.D. Rathi, Whole Time Director and CFO, Grasim Industries, knows what he is talking about when he says it's up to the finance head to maintain cost competitiveness and profitability. From a diverse conglomerate, Grasim today has come to be focussed on cement and fibre-an exercise that involved some heavy-duty debt restructuring and hiving off of unprofitable units. "We tend to attach a lot of emotions to the business, but we have to learn to be detached if we want to move forward," advises Rathi. Moving forward for Rathi also means acquisitions; he was one of the key Grasim personnel at the core of the takeover of L&T's cement business, now christened UltraTech Cement. Yet, the Grasim CFO is acutely aware of many head honchos' temptation to overdo M&As, perhaps lured by the glamour and driven by ego. "We don't hive off or retain businesses just for the heck of it," he says.

Another word of caution: While the CFO is at the forefront of many decisions, recent global corporate scandals have resulted in the spotlight being trained directly on the CFO to ensure that information released by him is indeed correct. Once Clause 49 comes into effect-a clause in the listing agreement of stock exchanges that lays down stringent provisions of corporate governance for listed companies-the CFO will be required to sign the balance sheet along with the CEO. "It cuts both ways," states Singhvi. "Though the responsibilities have increased, so have the risks. If you cut corners, you are more exposed than the CEO."

-additional reporting by Kushan Mitra