Why you will need to transform the finance function:

Organizations will undergo change:

When organizations go through change, it will and always will affect the finance function. These changes can include:

• Rapid growth in revenues from new products or customers
• Expansion in geographic locations serviced
• Regulatory changes
• Other stakeholder changes
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Senior management changes
• Cost reduction plans
  

Sound familiar. The pressure from these changes fall directly on the people in finance, more specifically the senior finance manager/s. In many cases, this increasing complexity is not something the existing finance managers have the experience or knowledge to manage. Tehy need help and guidance.

Some of the areas they will need to manage include the following:

Governance will increase:

The Sarbanes Oxley Act, new accounting standards, new anti money laundering regulations, the increasing protection afforded to investors, the increasing responsibilites being placed on directors and senior management, the increasing powers and responsibilities of auditors not to mention statutory reporting requirements and compliance. You cannot ignore governance. Good governance and risk management starts at home, in the finance function.

Governance and risk management policy and processes will be required:

To ensure efficient and consistent processesing combined with a suitable control environment requires processes, supporting policies and authority matrices. These need to be constantly managed, updated and monitored. The need in this area will only increase. More risk, more regulation, more time required.

Technology to enable processes will be needed:

Selecting, implementing, maintaining and optimizing suitable technology to support the finance function and its key objectives is critical. For more information on this topic, see our system selection online toolkit.

People and skills will a key to success:

Finding people is easy, finding the right people is not quite as easy. Outsourcing or shared services or both, are options to manage this issue and potentially reduce cost, but careful consideration is required, as to which is the right strategy.

Service providers will play a role:

Selecting and working with service providers is inevitable and will increase in time. These providers could be your auditors, outsourcing partners for finance or technology or both, tax advisors or other specialists. Some will be hired by engagement, other by long term contract.

Working with and managing these providers to get the best out of them will become a competency in itself. Read more and start transforming your finance function for the better. and the critical success factors.