Will 2004 be the year of the CFO? At many companies, the hunt is on for forceful finance executives who can work closely with chief executive officers while maintaining their independence.

Such finance leaders are wanted following the past two years' messy financial scandals and the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, setting new reporting standards. Since last fall, job leads reported by the Chicago-based Finance Leaders Association, a networking group, have increased to 1,200 monthly from about 900, says founder Jon Paul.

Primarily, the hiring spotlight is on executives who have never had red flags raised in audits and can appropriately serve chief executives, boards and investors. This means advising the CEO, while maintaining enough independence to tell the CEO and board members about financial developments that may cause problems. They must ensure reports are accurate, develop strategy and restore investor confidence. To emphasize the role's increased importance, employers aren't shying from making offers that include generous pay increases.

"Everyone now understands you cannot afford to make a mistake, so you can make the case easily that you have to pay more to get the best," says Ted Martin, chief executive officer of Martin Partners LLC, a Chicago-based executive-search firm. "To boards and CEOs, what's an extra $100,000 added to the CFO's base salary compared to front-page bad press for restating the financials?"

Another position that has become more important due to the financial reporting scandals is internal audit. More companies are bringing this function back in-house or beefing up existing audit departments, creating opportunities for senior audit executives.

Average annual cash compensation (salary plus bonus) for chief financial officers in 2003 was $437,300, compared to $420,600 in 2002, according to annual surveys of more than 1,500 companies by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Top corporate audit executives earned an average of $190,800 in 2003, compared to $175,100 in 2002, Mercer reports.

Large public companies are creating the most opportunities, and hiring demand appears to be uniform across industries and all regions of the U.S. Technology firms in particular have had a notable increase in openings for senior finance executives to help them grow through stock offerings or mergers with other companies. Companies in the new-media arena, such as streaming video, virtual reality, mobile presentation, CD and DVD media and live Internet broadcasting, also have been hiring CFOs, says Stephen Mader, chief executive officer of Christian & Timbers, a Cleveland-based search firm.

"The issue of 'How are we going to grow this company?' is coming up in every discussion we have today" about filling CFO positions, says Chuck Eldridge, managing director of the financial officer's practice with Korn/Ferry International, a Los Angeles-based search firm. Mr. Eldridge, who is located in Atlanta, says his firm's assignments have increased significantly for CFOs and other senior financial executives, such as controllers and treasurers, from a low in January 2003.

Following a merger or acquisition, a CFO from one of the merged companies typically was promoted to become the top finance officer of the new entity. Now many merging companies are going outside to find more seasoned executives, says Mr. Mader. For example, he's now seeking such an executive for a $500 million East Coast-based high-technology company to be created from a merger of two public companies.

"They are going to get a CFO who matches the scale of the merged business," says Mr. Mader. Although industry experience isn't always required, in this instance, the new hire must have an information-technology background" to get up to speed more quickly, he says.

As far as the traits and skills most in demand, Mr. Eldridge says, the candidates he's seeking must be seasoned "best athletes" who can effectively manage a company's financial processes, lead the top executives and the board of directors and sway Wall Street analysts and investors, the recruiter says.

"What's different today is that CEOs are looking for CFOs who are deeper in a lot of things other than the numbers themselves," says Mr. Mader. "That means CFOs need presentation and selling skills - the ability to portray ideas well and influence people's thinking."

Mr. Mader notes the difficult role of serving the CEO while being independent. "People are less comfortable thinking of CFOs as the right-hand person of the CEO," he says. He adds that having integrity is a "given." "It's mandatory, compelling and truly expected in this role," says Mr. Mader. "It's the one place where any hint of a lack of integrity will essentially ruin a career. No CFO ever comes back from a taint on integrity."

Prior to the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002, company department heads often produced their own department's financial reports, which the CFO pulled into one document, says Mr. Martin. Now the responsibility of making sure the financial results for every department are accurate and then reporting them is squarely on the CFO's shoulders. Then, under the new law, the CFO and CEO both must sign off on the report. "The CFO was really viewed as another functional leader until the corporate-reporting problems emerged," says Mr. Martin. "Now they have to take full responsibility for any mishaps or miscues."

For some CFOs, though, this burden is a nonissue. "Signing the public certifications wasn't a big issue for me," says Ed Jordan, who in January joined Flarion Technologies Inc., a private wireless-broadband company based in Bedminster, N.J., as its first CFO. "It usually isn't for those people who are running a clean shop and who came out of public accounting and know what's right and wrong." The 43-year-old executive previously had been CFO of two other technology start-ups and had worked for Deloitte & Touche, a public accounting firm.

Mr. Jordon says that at ITXC Corp., his prior employer, "the CEO and I said, 'This is no big deal, give us the paper, and we'll sign it.' "

Financed mostly by venture capital, four-year-old Flarion has grown to about 200 employees. Its technology allows for cellular coverage of broadband, so that mobile data devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) or laptops, can connect wirelessly to other computers.

Mr. Jordan was helping Flarion's CEO locate CFO candidates last fall when ITXC, which he helped found, was acquired by Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd., a Montreal company. "My function would have been consolidated in Montreal, so the timing worked out well. We began talking about me taking on the role," he says.

Flarion is typical of young high-tech firms in need of seasoned financial executives to develop a growth strategy. Mr. Jordan was attractive because he helped his two prior employers conduct initial public offerings and ITXC with the acquisition process. "That's my core expertise -- creating the capital to help companies grow," he says.

Today's tougher reporting requirements also have led to the resurgence of the internal-audit function and consequent demand for senior audit professionals. At large companies nowadays, the top internal auditor's title is vice president or senior vice president of internal audit. At financial-services institutions, it's general auditor. The position reports to the audit committee of the board of directors, with administrative support from the CEO and CFO, says Mr. Eldridge.

Mr. Paul says Financial Leadership Association members who work in internal audit have noted employers' increased interest in having an internal-audit function and hiring experienced professionals for the role. "It used to be, 'Why should we bother having audit inside?' Now companies are saying they realize this is pretty important, and they need to get a handle on it, so they are bringing back the audit people," says Mr. Paul.

At some companies, the need is urgent. Mr. Eldridge is helping an East Coast Fortune 50 company to find an internal-audit executive to replace an individual who retired suddenly. "It's obviously a trying time, because the audit is underway," he says.

The ideal candidate for this job would have worked in internal audit within the past five years and preferably have served in other financial functions, such as controller, treasury, financial analysis or budgeting, he says.