Principal financial officer

The principal financial officer is the role SEC rules name where a company's own title is usually chief financial officer. Item 5.02(b) of Form 8-K requires a filing when the "principal financial officer" retires, resigns or is terminated from that position, and Item 5.02(c) when the company appoints a new one. General Instruction D of Form 10-K requires the annual report to be signed on the company's behalf by "its principal financial officer or officers," and Rule 13a-14 requires each principal financial officer to sign the certifications in each annual and quarterly report. Many signature pages print the designation in parentheses after the officer's title. CFO Tribune records changes in this seat.