Tom Scalera, former Chief Financial Officer of ITT Corporation,
on the importance of ROIC
and other issues critical to CFO performance

In this far-ranging interview, Finario’s SVP Bob Fitzgerald sat down with Scalera to discuss the primary responsibilities of the CFO and why capital allocation is at the top of the list.

Mr. Scalera is currently CEO of Delticus Group. He is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ITT Inc., a $3 billion global manufacturer of engineered solutions for the Industrial, Energy, and Transportation markets. At ITT, Mr. Scalera was instrumental in establishing the new, post-spin, ITT as a global, multi-industrial company that consistently delivered strong financial results, while maintaining robust liquidity and an investment grade balance sheet. 

In 2019 and 2020, Mr. Scalera was named to the Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team as Best CFO. And he was also instrumental in the release of ITT’s first-ever sustainability report that detailed the company’s Environmental, Social and Governance practices.

Prior to joining ITT, Mr. Scalera was the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis at RR Donnelley, a global provider of integrated communications, and held financial leadership and SEC reporting positions at Dover Corporation. 

Key Takeaways

Priority #1: Allocate Capital Effectively

"The number one responsibility of a CFO is to allocate capital." If he or she can't do that, the board and investors won't trust them to make other strategic decisions.

Depending on Spreadsheets Just Won't Cut It

Accessing historical data to measure ROIC is extremely difficult using Excel. Modern tools like Finario make calculator the all-important ROIC metric a breeze.

Free Up Your People to Focus on More Critical Tasks

Finance talent, especially in FP&A, is harder than ever to find. Remove the tedious data wrangling that takes up your team's time -- freeing them up for more value-added efforts.