The chief financial officer neither operates on his or her own nor is he or she divorced from management. Successful financial management is the result of a collective and conscientious effort from everybody in the department, as guided by a technically trained and proficient chief financial officer who is objective and performs his duties with due professional care.

In this regard, the chief financial officer must establish effective service delivery relationships with his or her clients on a basis of integrity, reliability, objectivity and usefulness. These core values must be evident in the relationship with the following clients :

Achieving these core values requires adequate education and training and maintaining the highest possible degree of professionalism in the delivery of financial services.