Thinking Like A CFO for Your Farm Operation

Why should you think like a Chief Financial Officer (CFO)? Every farm needs someone to fulfill the CFO role, with or without the title of CFO. Sometimes the role of an accountant and CFO are confused. A CFO uses accounting information to help project what's going to happen on a farm, going well beyond the accounting function. Most farms already have a balance sheet in addition to cash income and expense information that can be used for taxes. That's an accounting role. The individual on the farm with CFO responsibilities is responsible for putting together a set of financial statements and analyzing the information contained in these statements. A farm manager who thinks like a CFO can leverage balance sheet and cash flow information to develop accrual income, sources and uses of funds, and owner’s equity statements which can be used to ensure the farm is well positioned for the future. Join Purdue ag economists Michael Langemeier and James Mintert for an episode discussing why you should think like a CFO for your farm operation.

This episode begins a new series on farm financial management. The next episode will be released in a few weeks.

Podcast provided by Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture. Find the rest of this farm financial management series and related resources at https://purdue.ag/farmfinancialmgmt. 

New! You can find the FULL video episode on our YouTube channel, Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture. Visit https://youtu.be/DUAD_BWp7yM to subscribe and watch.