With a changing and uncertain business environment, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and finance functions must evolve to sit at the heart of decision making within their organisations, according to a series launched by IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants). The series includes:
- A vision for the CFO and finance function;
- Future-fit accounting roles for the next decade; and
- An evaluation tool to help guide organizations in finance function transformation.
IFAC says the CFO and finance function of today and tomorrow needs to provide information and analysis that supports decisions about all aspects of an organisation’s business model and value creation. As business partners, they need to communicate how value is created today, how it will be created in the future, and if profitability is sustainable.
“The finance function cannot survive as a support or back-office function and must do more than account for the balance sheet,” said Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO. “As business models evolve and uncertainty increases, CFOs and their finance teams are uniquely situated to provide the information that powers decision-making for long-term value creation.”
IFAC's evaluation tool is meant to help boards and management teams identify strengths and areas of improvement for their finance team.