The expectations placed on finance leaders have changed.

The CFO is no longer responsible solely for financial control, reporting and compliance. Increasingly, they are expected to improve decision making, accelerate reporting, modernise systems, reduce cost, support growth and lead significant organisational change.

At the same time, finance teams are under pressure to do more with fewer resources.

This creates a fundamental challenge:

How do you transform finance while continuing to run finance?

The transformation paradox

Finance functions are expected to become more strategic, but transformation often requires significant investment of time and capability.

The people responsible for running the month end are also expected to redesign the month end.

The Finance Director is expected to lead an ERP implementation while maintaining financial control.

The CFO is expected to deliver cost reduction while investing in new technology.

This creates a capacity problem.

The challenge is not always a lack of capability within the organisation. Often, it is that the organisation does not have enough specialist capacity at the right time.

Building capability around the transformation

Successful CFOs increasingly think about finance capability as something that can be flexed according to business requirements.

A permanent finance team provides the core capability required to run the function.

Specialist expertise can then be brought in when the organisation enters a period of significant change.

That might include:

• An ERP implementation

• Finance operating model redesign

• Acquisition integration

• A major restructuring

• Finance function stabilisation

• New reporting requirements

• Rapid business growth

• Preparation for an investment or transaction

This creates a more flexible model for building finance capability.

Permanent does not always mean better

There is often an assumption that every capability required by finance should eventually sit within the permanent organisation.

That is not necessarily the case.

A business may only need a particular transformation skill for twelve months.

An acquisition integration specialist may be required for a defined programme.

A finance systems expert may be needed until an ERP implementation is stabilised.

The objective should therefore be to build the right permanent capability, whilst accessing specialist expertise when the business requires it.

The new finance talent model

This is creating a more fluid approach to finance talent.

CFOs increasingly need access to three different types of capability:

Leadership

Permanent and interim CFOs, Finance Directors and Financial Controllers who can lead the function through periods of change.

Transformation specialists

Professionals with experience across ERP, systems, processes, operating models, reporting and finance transformation.

Project specialists

Experienced professionals who can deliver specific outcomes within a defined programme or transaction.

The ability to combine these capabilities can give finance leaders greater flexibility without compromising the quality of delivery.

Experience becomes increasingly valuable

Transformation programmes are complex.

Organisations can invest heavily in technology and consulting but still struggle because they lack people who have actually delivered similar change before.

Experience helps teams anticipate problems, challenge assumptions and make decisions quickly.

For CFOs, this means asking a different question when building transformation teams.

Not simply:

"What skills do we need?"

But:

"Where have we done this before?"

The answer can help determine whether the organisation should develop internal capability, recruit permanently or bring in experienced specialists.

The future finance function

The finance function of the future will need to be more technologically capable, more commercially focused and more adaptable.

But transformation does not mean replacing finance professionals with technology.

It means giving finance professionals better systems, better data and better processes so they can spend more time on activities that create value.

The CFO therefore has two responsibilities.

Run today's finance function effectively.

Build tomorrow's finance function deliberately.

The organisations that succeed will be those that recognise these are different challenges and resource them accordingly.

The opportunity for CFOs

Finance transformation does not have to mean building a large permanent organisation or committing to a lengthy consulting engagement.

It can mean accessing the right expertise for the specific challenge, at the point when it is needed.

For some organisations, that will mean appointing a permanent Finance Director.

For others, it may mean an interim transformation leader.

For another, it may mean bringing together a small team of specialists to deliver a defined programme.

The best model depends on the challenge.

The important thing is having access to the experience required to deliver it.

The future of finance will not be defined by how large the function becomes, but by how effectively it can access the capability it needs to change.