WORLD ACADEMY OF INFORMATICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
CHANGING SHAPE OF THE FINANCE FUNCTION
Peter Simons, BBS, MBA, FCMA, CGMA
Head of Future of Finance Research
Association of International Certified Professional
Accountants (AICPA)
ABSTRACT
This briefing paper will:
a. Explore how and why the shape is changing
b. Explore how service areas within the finance
function are evolving
c. Explore the changing skills sets of finance
professionals.
ISSN : 2278-1315
Traditionally, the shape was a hierarchical triangle with a
broad base and fewer roles at senior levels. Over the past two
decades, the shape then evolved to a segregated triangle,
which was driven by globalization and advances in
information and communications technology. This change
allowed routine processes to be migrated to shared service
centres – the bottom section of the segregated triangle
represents the finance function activity carried out within
shared service centres.
Figure 2: The evolution of the finance function shape
The changing expectation of finance role
“The expectations of the finance role have changed. Finance
is now embedding itself across the business”.
When an interviewee from the Indian banking sector shared
this insight, it reflected the prevailing sentiment of
respondents and demonstrated the radically changing nature
of the finance function. Our research reveals that an
expanding mandate for finance, digital technologies and
new sources of data are combining to change the shape of
the finance function. As expectations and skills evolve, that
shape is migrating from a traditional hierarchical triangle
(where broader populations of workers report directly
upwards to a series of ever-narrower management bands) to
a hexagonal structure (where expert teams collaborate as
equals to achieve shared corporate objectives).
The evolving shape has implications for finance
professionals. It will impact:
Career paths and succession planning upwards through the
structure, as the lower tier career ladders erode
The skills needed to remain relevant. These will change and
go far beyond the traditional accountant’s skills set
The conventional mindset where finance works in isolation.
This will shift instead to a strategically- and commercially-
aware mindset.
We will continue to monitor the evolving shape of the
finance function as it informs the practical experience
requirements for CGMA designation holders, lifelong
learning and continuous professional development needs.
The hexagonal shape of the digital age shows the impact of
technological automation as it continues to erode the
traditional triangular base (Figure 2). This erosion has
implications for succession planning; those basic finance
activities, which are now automated, had provided the
traditional training ground for finance professionals.
Many of the lower-level tasks involved in ‘assembling and
extracting data and providing limited insight’ and ‘specialists
generating further insights in their areas of specialism’ have
been, and will continue to be, automated (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The impact of technological change on the shape
of the finance function
HOW THE SHAPE OF THE FINANCE FUNCTION IS
CHANGING
In the digital age, our research shows that the finance
function’s shape has evolved into a hexagonal structure.
Figure 1: The shape of the finance function in the digital
age
Most of these tasks are likely to be clerical in nature, rather
than tasks performed by professional accountants.
Professional-level tasks will still exist in the management and
continuous improvement of processes. Indeed, this
understanding and the use of new technologies will be
increasingly important in process improvement.
Higher-value services, present within ‘specialists generating
further insights in their areas of specialism’ (including
www.waims.co.in
ENDEAVOR 2019 | WAIMS ACADMIC PRESS
33 | P a g e