Finance Evolution: Thriving in the next decade

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As the pace of business reinvention accelerates, finance is under pressure to reassess its role and relevance within the wider enterprise. Forward-looking Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are adopting a transformative new vision for the next decade.

In a new report with the ACCA and Chartered Accountants ANZ we take a deep dive into the future of the finance function. The report is based on personal insights from 150 global finance leaders and 2,300 responses to a global survey, examining emerging trends and making recommendations for CFOs to consider in preparing their teams for the future.

At the heart of this shift is the emergence of the CFO as the Chief Value Officer; leading with change rather than playing a supporting role; understanding the fast-evolving levers of value; providing proactive and predictive insights to the business.

Read the report - Finance Evolution: Thriving in the next decade

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of finance leaders have a fully developed vision for the future of their function
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of finance leaders believe their function is still perceived as a cost centre
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of finance leaders believe their organisation doesn’t understand how finance adds value

Foundations for reinvention

A critical component of building the future finance function lies in getting the foundations right. That means having the right processes and controls in place, embracing the opportunities presented by AI and machine learning, leveraging trusted data to provide proactive and forward-thinking insights and – critically – building an adaptive workforce with the right skills and capabilities.

Simon Seymour, Partner, PwC UK

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Five ways to get fit for the future

Disruption, change, uncertainty and risk – these are the watchwords of the new normal facing CFOs and their businesses. But rather than waiting for the calm that may never come, successful CFOs are taking action now to equip their businesses for these challenging conditions and create long-term, sustainable value.

How are they making a difference? We see five leadership positions which you can take to help accelerate your reinvention.

George Markellos, Director, PwC UK

Lead with value
Lead with performance
Lead with data
Lead with tech-powered processes
Lead with change

Lead with value

Over a third of respondents (38%) view the main barrier to enhancing the finance function as a 'lack of understanding of where finance can add value.'

This is where we see the emergence of the CFO as the Chief Value Officer – an orchestrator of value creation and preservation - and a shift in the role towards broader outcomes.

Ultimately, it’s about delivering sustainable value to stakeholders - at a time when there is greater conflict between priorities and organisations are grappling with rising capital costs, the increased speed of innovation and new competitive threats.

Lead with performance

68% of respondents think that the generation of business insights will increase over the next three to five years.

Trustworthy and high quality information will become more critical than ever, but an abundance of poor and conflicting information will just limit visibility of what matters most.

Finance can take a leadership position on identifying who owns critical decisions, the information they need and how this powers the business.

Lead with data

Almost 70% of respondents think that GenAI will improve data mining and analysis over the next three to five years.

Poor data will erode trust and create conflict. Not all data has equivalent value and there is a need to define and protect the golden data sources which underpin trust most.

Sustainability is just one example; expect business leaders, Tax authorities, governments and society to all demand more. Finance can take a lead position, ensuring there is governance, control and accountability in maintaining data quality, moving to more continuous policy compliance and anomaly detection to ‘nudge’ the business to a right-first-time approach.

Lead with tech-powered processes

While only 30% of survey respondents consider their core applications (e.g. ERP, finance, sales and procurement) as integrated right now, this will double to over 60% in three to five years.

It’s critical to take an enterprise wide, business lens on technology to ensure it supports how the business works, not just creating a new source of technical debt.

We will see the pace of technological innovation only increase (GenAI, Cloud and analytics) and this needs a strong business process foundation to build on.

Lead with change

45% of global CEOs believe their company won’t be viable in ten years if it stays on its current path.

Leadership is key, but change can’t be entirely top-down. Organisations and people share the accountability for skills development in a way which elevates the organisation as a whole.

Identifying the right people and engaging your teams with meaningful experiences to build a momentum that lasts is key. Be prepared to look for talent beyond traditional channels and across generations.

“We are starting to see a shifting expectation around where the finance function must play a very distinct role in driving and modernising the business. We need to have a bigger picture of the macroeconomic indicators, the internal complexities and as finance we bring everything together.”

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