Earlier this year, I looked at a report showing that companies couldn't get their heads around important non-financial metrics like reputation risk, global competition, and increased scrutiny from the media and activist groups. Strong on the financials, but not the so-called soft stuff.

To back this up, we now have a PricewaterhouseCoopers study, reported here, suggesting that chief financial officers need to get their heads above the financials and start providing better information on non-financial management information, like customer satisfaction and sustainability. In their defense, CFOs reckon that the information they receive from management is hazy.

This is all the more extraordinary given the increasing awareness of the environment and the damage we're doing to it. And in the new business environment which is driving the push for increased transparency, non-financials will be increasingly important. Non-financial imperatives are also likely to create new sources of revenue. Financial officers need to lift their game if they are to work in this new world, and be trusted.