Chief Financial Officer
Also called CFO, principal financial officer.
The principal financial officer, a required named executive officer. CompensationBase has a dedicated highest-paid CFOs ranking using the same SCT Total as CEOs.
What it is
The chief financial officer is the principal financial officer, always a NEO under Item 402 even if another officer’s SCT Total is higher. CompensationBase ranks CFOs separately from CEOs using the same SCT Total and maps the role from the latest proxy title, not from a live officer list.
CFOs often have smaller LTI than CEOs but similar salary and a distinct annual-incentive scorecard (controllership, capital structure, guidance accuracy).
Why companies use it
The SEC named the PFO as a required NEO after financial-reporting scandals, so the person signing the numbers is always in the table.
Boards use CFO pay to hire scarce financial talent without automatically matching CEO equity.
Pros
- Guaranteed disclosure even when the CFO is not a top-three earner.
- A dedicated ranking answers “what do S&P 500 CFOs make?” without CEO outliers.
- Easier peer job-to-job match than for miscellaneous NEOs.
Cons
- Interim CFOs and co-finance structures can confuse title mapping.
- A CFO who is also COO may be paid like a second CEO.
- New-hire make-whole equity still spikes a single year.
Examples
CFO ranking
Highest-paid CFOs uses SCT Total, including grant-date equity. A make-whole RSU for a CFO hired from another public company can put them at the top for one year.
Always a NEO
If four operating presidents earn more SCT Total than the CFO, the CFO still appears. Item 402 does not let the company omit the PFO.
On CompensationBase
CFOs are ranked separately from CEOs using the same SCT Total. Title mapping follows the latest proxy, not a live officer list.
Related terms
- Named executive officer
The executives Item 402 requires in the SCT, typically the CEO, CFO, and the next three highest-paid executive officers. CompensationBase’s catalog is S&P 500 named executive officers.
- Chief Executive Officer
The principal executive officer. CompensationBase maps proxy titles to a CEO role group for company pages and the highest-paid CEOs ranking, and omits a current CEO when the latest filing lists none.
- Total compensation
The headline pay figure CompensationBase ranks and displays: the Summary Compensation Table Total column as filed, not a recomputed sum of the component bars.