Cost cutting may still be in vogue, but the rest of the management team wants a CFO who functions more like a business partner, someone who participates in shaping strategy and provides insight into overall business indicators. A new survey finds that 74 percent of the CFO’s managerial peers expressed such sentiment, while only 41 percent prefer the equivalent of a scorekeeper - the CFO who monitors the financials.

In other words, traditional activities are still important, but in a toughening business, other pharma execs want more than conventional bean counting. They want a CFO who can handle mergers and acquisitions. Bristol-Myers Squibb, for instance, recently hired a new CFO and the announcement emphasized one thing - acquisition experience.

Just the same, the survey, which was conducted by Ernsty & Young, also found that 92 percent say cost reduction is a key issue, with 25 percent saying cost reduction has been a focus for more than two years and 35% saying it has been a focus “for as long as I can recall.” And 56 percent felt it was the CFO who must lead cost cutting plans. However, 58 percent cited both competitive pressures and profitability, while only 33 percent cited the need to provide better investor returns as a motivator.

Another finding - the top three issues that are transforming the role of CFO are increased regulatory and compliance requirements, increased corporate governance obligations and increasing risk management responsibilities.

E&Y surveyed 96 senior-level pharma execs last September and October. Half worked for drugmakers with more than $10 billion in revenue and the rest for companies with at least $1 billion in revenue, and nearly two-thirds were based in the US or Western Europe.