The Changing Shape Of The Finance Function

Digital technologies threaten and transform business models and they will radically change the world of work.

- Venkkat Ramanan

This applies as much to the finance function as it does anywhere else. As organisations come under pressure to adapt and respond to a fast-paced environment, they expect their finance professionals to support them by taking on a more strategic role. This means management accountants must be more strategically aware, make use of new technological tools, learn new skills, and organise themselves in new and more effective ways with which to deliver insights and solutions to the challenges ahead.

Inevitably, the shape of the finance function must evolve to meet these expectations. So it is moving away from a traditional hierarchical triangle, where broad populations of workers report directly upwards through a series of ever-narrower management bands, towards a more hexagonal structure where professional experts collaborate with business managers to achieve shared corporate objectives. For finance professionals themselves, the implications of this migration are wide-ranging. There are impacts on their individual career paths and on succession planning within the finance function more broadly. The migration also requires them to become more commercially and strategically aware and to acquire new skills that go far beyond the traditional accountant’s skillset.