Role of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)

Objective

The objectives of the workstream is to examine the evolving role of CFOs (or equivalent senior finance roles) within the private or public sector, and identify and understand the ethics issues and challenges faced by professional accountants in business (PAIBs) serving in that role, as well as non-professional accountants (non-PAs) who serve in the same role.

 

Project Team

Jon Reid

Carla Vijian

 

Board Advisor

David Wray

 
IESBA September 2026 Meeting Highlights

The IESBA considered an update on the Project Team activities since the June 2026 meeting and the Project Team’s Phase 1 final report and recommendations. Drawing on stakeholder outreach and surveys, academic research, and targeted jurisdictional regulatory assessments, the report examines the evolution of the CFO role and CFOs’ related ethical responsibilities, influence, and challenges. It also includes an analysis of whether the Code remains relevant, and identifies the public interest implications from the findings from the Project Team’s information gathering. 

The IESBA accepted the Project Team’s recommendations: 

  • Not to commence a CFO-specific standard-setting project or extend the scope of the Code beyond professional accountants in business (PAIBs) at this stage; 
  • To commence a focused initiative to develop NAM for PAIB CFOs and those who support them, and to pilot test the NAM with relevant stakeholders to assess its effectiveness in strengthening ethical awareness and decision-making, and inform whether further IESBA action is needed; and 
  • To compile and refer relevant Phase 1 evidence to existing IESBA workstreams within their approved scopes. 

The IESBA also considered an update from the Project Team on how it applied the IESBA SMART framework to the workstream. 

The IESBA will consider an update from the Project Team on the NAM pilot test activities at its December 2026 meeting