The rapidly changing world has made transformation a core part of every organisation’s future, and finance teams need to bring in their valuable skills and talents to drive this.

In the new report, Transformational journeys: finance and the agile organisation, CA ANZ, ACCA, and Generation CFO assert that the role of the finance function and its skills are intricately linked to organisational transformation.

Ainslie van Onselen, chief executive, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand explains:

There’s no doubt that the speed of change will continue to accelerate. Being prepared for that acceleration will enable finance and accountancy professionals to play their full role in the transformation process and help secure long-term organisational success.

Helen Brand, chief executive of ACCA adds: “Finance professionals have a clear role to play in transformation. The nature of that role is dependent on the extent to which they have a vision of how finance itself can contribute to the organisation of the future. Finance teams need to be forward thinking and agile in the face of relentless change.” 

The pandemic has caused many upheavals and the extent of these changes may not be clear for some time. 

Organisations have had to react to changing customer needs rapidly by understanding behaviour through data.

Chris Argent Founder and CEO, Generation CFO comments: “The advice I’d give as a one-time Finance Director myself, is for accountants to explore how they can play a major role in the future direction and development of their organisations. This is not just about appreciating the technology enhancements that are ongoing, but also understanding the cultural shifts in the ways of working that the pandemic has brought into focus.

The report includes insights from Jason Ford, Vice President, NTT DATA, about the nature of transformation – a dramatic or sudden change in form, nature, or appearance – and key trends, from understanding the risks to the rise of the ‘cloud native.

“Transformation is a very broad topic,” Ford says. “The changes in the way that organisations need to respond to the demands of their customers mean that we need to reappraise how we assess the effectiveness of transformation – and this demands collaboration between those charged with the development and delivery of services and the finance function to understand the realities of the investment case and the measurement of performance.”

The report contains tangible ways that accounting, and finance professionals can lead the way, from engaging with the environment as a matter of urgency to looking to the purpose of businesses and the profession’s moral responsibility.