I would like to become a Chief Financial Officer.

I have worked in the financial services industry for a number of years, including with several CFOs. There are all kinds of CFOs! CFOs for big companies, for small businesses, and for everything in between. There are a number of paths to becoming a CFO, so hopefully other people will chime in. Here's my take on one of the common paths to becoming a CFO for a particularly large company: go to college at a school with either an undergraduate business program. Check out the list of companies that recruited from that school last year and make sure that there are financial services companies on there (you're looking for banks like Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, etc.). Get as many internships at financial services companies during college as you can. Get a degree in finance or business (depending on the school). You need excellent grades, which requires a lot of studying). Then you go work for a financial services company for a few years, trying to rise up in the ranks as far as you can. When you've become a managing director or some other senior leadership role, you'll be asked to become the CFO for a company.

Good for you to have such an ambitious goal! It's going to be fun when you get to the top of the heap!

I've got a slightly different perspective from GaryToscano: join a big company in the finance department and work your way up through the ranks. If you join in an entry-level role, you'll get some real experience that will be valuable later in your career. You'll rotate through finance, maybe do some mergers and acquisitions work, work on some strategy documents, and maybe touch the treasury / cash management functions. That will really give you a great set of skills and if you're really a rockstar you'll rise up through the ranks!

If your ultimate career goal is to become a chief financial officer (CFO), you are probably already considering the steps required to achieve your goal.

Maybe you are wondering where you can go from your current position or whether your professional experience meets the standard path to leading the financial operations of an operation.

Whatever your situation, there are a number of definite skills and steps required to become a financial leader.

If you have your sights set on reaching the top of your profession, you will need to work hard and be extremely committed to developing your technical and interpersonal skills.

Initially, from an employer’s point of view it comes down to who looks better on paper and a perfect academic track record is always impressive. It almost goes without saying, but any trainee who reaches this level will also need a strong commercial understanding.

FIRST TIME PASSES
Companies are able to cherry-pick based on more and more rigorous criteria such as preference for candidates who pass their exams first time and have solid work experience. At the end of the day employers want the best candidate and, if you can fit into this elite category, you put yourself at a competitive advantage.

To become a CFO, you will need a firm grasp of the fundamentals of budgeting, analysis, compliance, risk management and other accounting principals. As a CFO, your job will be to ensure that the CEO and board's decisions are financially sound, both in regard to resources available and regulatory compliance.

As a result, having solid financial experience should make you more able to make these judgments. Sometimes, especially at small companies, the same person serves as CEO and CFO, making this financial expertise even more crucial.

Gareth Davage, senior managing director at Michael Page Finance London & South East Regions, says: 'To maximise your chances of being considered for promotion, you must first exceed expectations in your existing role.

'In addition to strong technical competence, earning a reputation for being a dependable, capable, hard worker is also essential. Always try to show initiative: understand the business needs that give to rise to the projects you are working on and try to deliver a little bit extra on top of what you have been asked for every time.'

CONSIDER ROLES
You will of course need to be promoted several times before you are ready to become a CFO, so think carefully about the roles you will need to do that will offer you the right skills and experience.

Make yourself a long-term plan and then set yourself a realistic goal for when you want to have achieved your next promotion.

Identifying people who can help you to learn what you need to know in order to progress will be an important strategy on your journey to becoming a CFO. Look at the senior people in your company and find out what opportunities there are to learn from their experience. Many companies offer mentoring schemes where trainees can ask senior managers for advice and guidance.

Josh Rufus, manager public practice at Morgan McKinley, says: 'Within industry, while technical expertise is important for CFOs, it is the softer skills that will set an individual apart – an excellent rapport with colleagues and other stakeholders, strong commercial awareness and the ability to sell are all part of what makes a good CFO.'

FINGER ON THE PULSE
Trainees will also need to have a full and detailed understanding of their arena and will need to have their finger on the pulse of what is coming up in their specific markets.

Gaining a deep understanding of the business is critical. As a CFO you will regularly meet with the board and collaborate with managers as a CFO. For this reason, you need to develop a broader understanding of the business and operational sides of a company. This is a consideration worth applying immediately.

Joss Collins, a financial services specialist at Venn Group, adds: 'CFOs need to utilise their network to share information and build a better understanding of the markets around them in order to make strategic decisions that can benefit their business.

'As a result, developing a wide network is an important factor of the role and they will be expected to take part in forums, groups and conferences to develop this to its full potential.

'It is a tough task to reach this level in what is a massively competitive sector, but it can certainly be done.'

I am the CFO of a small construction company. The answers given are very good. I am a Certified Public Accountant and I have my MBA. I would say obtaining my CPA was the single most important accomplishment that allowed me to progress upward in my career. It serves as a stamp of approval that you are technically qualified. However, I believe a well rounded set of experiences in accounting, operations, sales and strategy would form the basis of the knowledge set required to be a successful CFO. There are many CFO that have worked themselves up through the ranks of companies with just a bachelors degree, however with the 150 hour requirement ot sit of the CPA exam most younger accountants complete a five year program of 150 hours that gives them a MBA or MPA. For me it was all about education and getting the foundation in place. I also moved amoungst differenct large and small, public and private companies to get to the CFO role as well.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is often the ultimate position for a finance career. You’re as high as you can go in a company, the only person above you operationally is the Chief Executive Officer, then there are the owners – entrepreneur, shareholders, chairman – who you have to report to and keep happy. For many CFOs the next challenge is Chief Executive Officer (CEO), company ownership or retirement – so you see, it’s very nearly the final and most senior role for many finance professionals.
The CFO is responsible for ensuring and developing revenue streams and driving business strategy. They do this by determining risk controls and developing innovative funding and capital-raising strategies to drive expansion, modernization or product development. They need to be technologically competent and able to integrate technology strategy into the business. A CFO works closely with the CEO to influence and drive business strategy and will often be a board member responsible for corporate investment.
The majority of CFOs will understandably have an educational background in finance, business, economics or management. A typical path would be a bachelors and masters degree in accounting or other finance-related studies.

In order to become a CFO you should have an educational background in finance, business, economics or management. A typical path would be a bachelors and masters degree in accounting or other finance-related studies, alongside the ACCA ( Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ) Qualification.

What does it take to become a great CFO?
◾Flawlessly execute strategy
◾Be strategic and tactical
◾Ensure revenue flow by having the vision to avoid or adapt to disruptions to revenue streams and knows when to invest in something new to grow profitability

CFO should have complete knowledge regarding the following aspects
◾The operations
◾The product
◾The customers
◾The vendors & suppliers
◾All the employees
◾The shareholders

A great CFO should have the following qualities:
◾Fearless
◾Self-assured
◾Delivers bad news without placing blame
◾Delivers good news and attributes credit
◾Views themselves as a team member
◾Leader

I agree with the answers already listed. Many different paths to becoming a CFO. Here's a good video of a talk to Stanford's MBA class by Jeff Epstein, Oracle's CFO at the time, and his path there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZyBkEKRjUg