For a CFO, the challenge is to be a big thinker at the same time you get your hands dirty executing those big thoughts. This year's choices for T&RM's CFOs to Watch excel in both. Each has distinguished himself–and his company–by an ability to infuse strategic decisions with the rigor of the best finance departments.

James Schneider, CFO, DellIn one sense, James Schneider's job at Dell Inc. May be less challenging than that of some peers. As CFO of the leading maker of personal computers, he presides over one of the nation's most generous cash cows. With a famously small inventory, orders taken primarily over the Internet, and products made to order for sale direct to the customer, the company has minimal expenses compared to more traditional manufacturers, even in the technology sector. He could stay busy just worrying about how to invest Dell's billions. But even in a time when the role of the CFO seems to be exponentially expanding, Schneider has become known as a finance executive who goes one step further–and takes his company with him. "I think he is one of the forces that has allowed Dell to become much more sophisticated," says Laura Conigliaro, managing director and an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

While the company may be flush, the low margins on personal computer sales have kept Schneider, and indeed the whole company, intensely focused on cost control. Some $1.3 billion in costs were cut in 2002, and another $2 billion in 2003. "We learned a lot from the technology downturn," says Schneider. "We had to let people go, which is something we don't want to have to go through again." For Dell, that has meant expanding global markets and broadening into services and servers. The strategies have put new demands on reporting, controls and analytics. "That's probably our biggest challenge," says Schneider. "We're growing so fast and getting more complex. You've got to add the right people in all the right places, which is not easy."